Hawaii wildfire death toll hits 80: county officials

LAHAINA, United States: The death toll from wildfires that destroyed swathes of Hawaii this week has risen to 80, Maui county officials said.

“The number of fatalities is at 80,” the county said in a regular update, adding that 1,418 people were at emergency evacuation shelters.

A fast-moving wildfire turned a historic Hawaiian town to ashes and desperate residents jumped into the ocean to escape the fast-moving flames.

The fires began burning early Tuesday, putting homes, businesses and utilities at risk, as well as more than 35,000 people on the island of Maui, the Hawaii Emergency Management Agency said in a statement.

The fires have burned more than 2,000 acres (800 hectares) of land, it said.

“High, gusty winds and dry conditions put much of Hawai’i under a Red Flag Warning that ended late Wednesday, and more fires were burning on the Big Island and Maui,” according to the state emergency agency.

US Coast Guard officers pulled at least a dozen people from the water as emergency services were overwhelmed by a disaster that appeared to have erupted almost without warning.

More than 270 buildings have been damaged or destroyed in the seriously affected town of Lahaina, officials said earlier on Wednesday.

“Much of Lahaina on Maui has been destroyed and hundreds of local families have been displaced,” said Governor Josh Green of the 12,000-resident historic town, which is popular with tourists.

Video posted on social media showed blazes tearing through the heart of the beachfront town and sending up huge plumes of black smoke.

“People are jumping into the water to avoid the fire,” US Army Major General Kenneth Hara, the state adjutant general, told Hawaii News Now.

Visitors to Maui were asked by county officials to leave the island “as soon as possible,” with buses organized to shuttle travelers from a hotel to Kahului Aiport in trips that started Wednesday afternoon, according to a statement on the County of Maui’s official Facebook page.

But many travelers were stranded at the Kahului Airport late Wednesday, due to canceled and delayed flights.

The US military has deployed three helicopters to help fight the fires, and others to assist search and rescue operations, the US Indo-Pacific Command said in a statement.