Maui wildfires leave trail of death and destruction

The wildfires that tore through the island of Maui and killed 96 people so far, will be “heavily studied” by climate experts as well as US federal research agencies, scientists said.

“There will be lots of research that will come out of NOAA in understanding specifically what caused this and the events that we've seen,” Sarah Kapnick, chief scientist with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, said in a call with reporters Monday.

Gavin Schmidt, director of the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies, said there are locally specific precursors and long-term effects that have contributed to the fires, including an ongoing dry spell and the proliferation of nonnative grasses — but climate change may very well have played a role.

“In this particular example, how much of a contribution [climate change had], that is going to be something that we're going to be looking at very carefully in the future,” Schmidt added.

The call, which was hosted jointly by NASA and NOAA officials, outlined the latest climate data, in which the planet marked its hottest July in 174 years. The average global temperature in July — the hottest month on record by far — was around 1.8 degrees Celsius warmer than the historical average, experts on the call said.

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre confirmed there are no plans in place for President Joe Biden to visit Hawaii after wildfires over the weekend on Maui left at least 96 dead.

Pressed on if Biden will address the wildfires, Jean Pierre said, “Certainly you'll hear from him, you know, continuously this week," but she added that she does not have new comments from the president.

“But look, this is something that the president clearly is deeply concerned about, that is why you heard we had the (Criswell) Zoom in right, literally from where she is in Hawaii to talk directly to all of you, to take your questions…and look, you're going to continue to certainly to hear from us on this issue,” Jean Pierre said.

The Biden administration is committed to supporting Hawaii "every step of the way" following the deadly Maui wildfires, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) administrator Deanne Criswell said Monday.

The FEMA administrator told reporters she’s been “in continuous communication with the president since these fires started,” adding she’s been giving Biden “and his team updates, letting him know what the federal family is doing to support everything that Gov. (Josh) Green has asked for.” 

Pressed if President Joe Biden plans to visit Maui to survey damage from the wildfires on the island, Criswell declined to say if there was a visit from the president scheduled. 

“Right now, our focus is on making sure that we are doing everything we can to account for everybody that has been unaccounted for — and the President has given me the space to make sure I'm bringing in all of the appropriate federal personnel and resources to do that ... We want to make sure that they have, you know, all of the resources and the space that they need and not disrupt operations right now," she said.

Later on in the briefing, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre confirmed there are no plans in place for Biden to visit Hawaii after the wildfires.

Criswell, who arrived on the ground in Hawaii in the early hours of Saturday morning, highlighted the federal response, noting the FEMA activated its transitional sheltering assistance program while partnering with AirBnB and hotels to “make sure that everyone finds a temporary solution as they begin to develop their plans for rebuilding.” 

And she touted “a whole of government approach,” from “dozens of our partner agencies to make sure that we have all of the right resources to support the recovery needs for this area and to make sure that we are successful in providing relief to survivors.” 

As part of those efforts, she pointed to work with local partners “to ensure that our outreach and our messaging is also culturally responsive, and that we can get messages out to people so they know what is available to them.”

Franklin “Frankie” Trejos, 68, tried to help others and save his home from burning down before he died trying to escape the Lahaina fire, his niece, Kika Perez Grant, told CNN.

After the fire, Perez Grant said the family received a call from Trejos’ roommate letting them know that the island had been on fire and that he wasn’t sure if Trejos had made it out alive.

According to Trejo’s niece, her uncle and his roommate tried to save their property at first but then decided to evacuate when they realized it was impossible. 

“They both got in their own cars and tried to evacuate. For some reason, his roommate’s car didn’t start, so he crawled around until someone found him. He got badly burned,” Perez Grant said. 

Trejos' roommate then went back to search for Trejo's car and found the car a few blocks away from the house. Trejos' remains were found on top of his roommate's dog who also died, Perez Grant said.

Trejos, who was a native of Costa Rica but had moved to the United States at a young age, has lived in Lahaina for the last thirty years, according to his niece.

More members of the Hawaii National Guard have been activated to respond to the wildfires on Maui, the Pentagon said, and Indo-Pacific Command remains poised to respond should a request for more aid come in. 

The Hawaii National Guard has now activated a total of approximately 250 guard members, Brig. Gen. Patrick Ryder said in a briefing Monday.

The National Guard are working with the Hawaii Emergency Management Agency and helping local law enforcement.

CNN reported last week that two Army National Guard heavy-lift Chinook helicopters are helping with wildlife response operations and the search and recovery teams. To date, crews have dropped more than 189,000 gallons of water to support firefighting efforts.

The US Army Corps of Engineers has also sent debris removal experts and temporary power experts to Maui, Ryder said.

The Army Reserve is also helping the Red Cross by providing additional space at a center in Maui. 

Despite a substantial military presence in Hawaii, including the headquarters of Indo-Pacific Command, there has not yet been a request for a larger active-duty response, Ryder said.

“FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) and the Hawaiian Emergency Management Agency, as they put together their response in terms of what’s needed, INDO-PACOM is on a hair trigger to be able to support as necessary, and so we’re going to do that,” Ryder said at the briefing.

Ryder said the Defense Department was coordinating with FEMA and other emergency response agencies to avoid a situation in which military assets flowed in unnecessarily and created logistics problems in a disaster situation.

“Obviously FEMA has a lot of experience in these types of situations,” Ryder said. “We’re going to work closely to make sure we’re getting folks what they need.”

Several firefighters trying to contain the flames quickly approaching the historic town of Lahaina last week have described weak water pressure and fire hydrants running dry, complicating an already perilous operation.

“There was just no water in the hydrants,” Keahi Ho, one of the firefighters working in Lahaina told the New York Times. 

Another firefighter, unnamed by the paper because he was not authorized to discuss the operation, said his truck connected to a hydrant but the water pressure was too weak to be of use and the flames grew and spread beyond their ability to contain them.

A third firefighter told the New York Times that when he arrived, he was told there was no water to fight the fires and crews pivoted to prioritize evacuations.

Ho, speaking to CNN, gave a statement, but wouldn’t elaborate on his comments to the paper.

Maui County Department of Water Supply Director John Stufflebean told the New York Times that backup generators were in use to maintain the water supply, but as the fire spread, “water was leaking out of the system." That water was flowing out of their melted pipes as the fire damaged properties.

CNN has reached out to the Maui County Department of Water Supply for more information and comment.

Hawaiian Electric’s stock tumbled to a 13-year low Monday morning, plummeting nearly 40% after a class-action lawsuit filed over the weekend alleged that Maui’s devastating wildfires were caused by the utility’s energized power lines that were knocked down by strong winds.

The utility says it provides power to 95% of the state’s residents.

The suit alleges that Hawaiian Electric Industries “chose not to deenergize their power lines during the High Wind Watch and Red Flag Warning conditions for Maui before the Lahaina Fire started,” despite knowing the risks of sparking a fire in those conditions.

The company and subsidiaries “also chose not to deenergize their power lines after they knew some poles and lines had fallen and were in contact with the vegetation or the ground,” the suit alleges.

It has not yet been determined what started the wildfire.

Read more about the Hawaiian Electric's stocks following the lawsuit.

Mobile carriers continue to work to get cell service back up and running on Maui.

T-Mobile: The company told CNN on Monday it has successfully deployed generators to fuel some of its cell towers that lost power due to the fires. T-Mobile is also using small portable cell service terminals to provide connectivity in regions where the network’s fiber connections were destroyed. Additional equipment to provide more cell service is expected to arrive on the island later today.

AT&T: The carrier said it has restored service in north Ka’anapali and is using portable satellite solutions and operating drones with cell service support over impacted areas. AT&T said its temporary cell service sites can handle up to 450 calls at a time. 

Verizon: The company continues to use satellite-based mobile hotspots at evacuation sites in areas of greatest need. Over the weekend, Verizon said it restored its cell service towers along Hawaii Route 37 and partial service to a portion of West Maui. Its engineers are working to get a mobile cell site to Lahaina, where there is significant structural damage to its equipment. The company is also working to deploy drones for search, rescue and recovery efforts.

Hawaii Gov. Josh Green is expected to hold a news conference on Maui at 3:30 p.m. local time (which is 9:30 p.m. ET) Monday, his office told CNN.

There have been 96 confirmed deaths from the fire, officials said in an update Sunday night local time. Officials are searching through the wreckage for the many who have been missing since the wildfires broke out.

Around 2,200 structures have been destroyed or damaged in western Maui, where the hard-hit historic town of Lahaina is located, Green previously reported. About 86% of the structures were residential, he added.