August 12, 2023 Maui wildfire news

We’ve moved our coverage of the Hawaii wildfires here.

Images from the scene have revealed the far reaching damage wrought by the wildfires on Maui. We have a full gallery but here is a selection below.

The shells of burned houses, vehicles and buildings are left on Friday, August 11, after wildfires driven by high winds burned across most of Lahaina, Hawaii.

Zoltan Balogh clears away trees that were burned by the wildfire in Kula, Hawaii, on Friday.

The destroyed Waiola Church is shown following wildfire in Lahaina, Hawaii on Friday.

Volunteers unload supplies from trucks before loading them onto boats for people in need at Kihei Ramp in Maui, Hawaii, on Saturday, August 12.

Wildfire damage in Lahaina, Hawaii, is pictured on Saturday.

The Maui wildfires are now the deadliest the US has seen in more than 100 years.

“This is the largest natural disaster we’ve ever experienced,” Hawaii Gov. Josh Green said Saturday. “It’s going to also be a natural disaster that’s going to take an incredible amount of time to recover from.”

If you are just joining us, here’s the latest:

Wildfire damage is seen on Saturday in Lahaina.

The Lahaina fire in Hawaii is now the deadliest in over 100 years, according to US Fire Administrator Lori Moore-Merrell.

The Camp Fire that ravaged Butte County in Northern California in November 2018 killed 85 people, burning a total of 153,336 acres and destroying more than 18,000 structures.

In this week’s wildfires on Maui, the death toll has reached at least 93.

Hawaii Governor Josh Green on Saturday described the fires as the “largest natural disaster Hawaii has ever experienced” – with around 2,200 structures destroyed and losses “approaching $6 billion.”

According to research from the National Fire Protection Association, it is now the 5th deadliest wildfire in US history and the worst since the 1918 Cloquet fire in Minnesota, which left more than 400 dead.

Burned houses and buildings are seen in Lahaina on Saturday.

The death toll from the Maui, Hawaii fires is now at 93, according to a release from Maui County.  

“The number of confirmed fatalities increased to 93, with two of them identified,” the release said.   

During a news conference Saturday Governor Josh Green (D) said the death toll is expected to increase.

“Firefighting crews are continuing to extinguish flare-ups in the Lahaina and Upcountry Maui fires. In the Upcountry Maui fire, three structures in Olinda and 16 structures in Kula were destroyed. The Pulehu/Kīhei fire was declared 100 percent contained Saturday,” the release said. 

At least 1,000 rooms have been secured for support staff and those displaced by the Lahaina fires, Hawaii Governor Josh Green said in a news conference Saturday.   

Green was addressing the challenges of relief efforts and what he said were “heartbreaking realities” on the ground.

“We’ve already secured 1,000 rooms. Five-hundred rooms will go to families that have been displaced because of the terrible fire,” he said, adding that the other 500 rooms were for support staff in the area.

“Then coming after that, in the days that follow, we’ll have long-term rentals. Those are the short-term rentals turned long-term now,” he continued.

“All of that’s going to be covered. It’s gonna be covered by the state. Some of it’s going to be given charitably. And then finally FEMA will cover a great deal of the cost.” 

An aerial view shows burnt areas in Lahaina on Friday.

Maui Police chief John Pelletier said they have identified two of the 89 people whose remains have been found in the rubble of the Maui wildfires as of Saturday.  

Pelletier did not publicly name the two and said search teams still have long way to go in the recovery process.

“We’re going as fast as we can,” Pelletier said, “but just so you know, three percent. That’s what’s been searched with the dogs: three percent.”  

FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell said she’s in the devastated Maui area to see “first hand” what kind of rebuilding is needed for the community.

“I needed to be able to see first hand what the challenges are going to be – talk to the governor, talk to the mayor – to hear what their concerns are and what resources they are going to need as we go forward,” Criswell said.

“I also wanted to talk to the people that have been impacted,” Criswell added.

While Hawaii is no stranger to natural disasters, the fires that ripped through Maui this week are the first it has seen in the “context” of both global warming and a passing hurricane, Governor Josh Green told a press conference late Saturday.

“We’ve been experiencing wildfires for decades… but this is the first time we’ve ever experienced wildfires in the context of (current) conditions: global warming and with the hurricane that’s just passing us,” Green said.

The fires on Maui have been fueled in part by violent winds from Hurricane Dora as it passed to the south of the islands.

Scientists have long warned about the consequences of extreme weather brought about by human caused climate change.

Records released last year showed that Hawaiian officials had underestimated the deadly threat of wildfires. The catastrophic fires that engulfed Maui and the historic town of Lahaina this week have already become the state’s deadliest natural disaster in more than six decades, with a fatality count of at least 89.

Around 2,200 structures have been destroyed or damaged as a result of the fires in Maui, Hawaii Governor Josh Green said in a news conference Saturday.  

“If you look at what’s been seen now in West Maui, 2,200 structures have been destroyed or damaged. Eighty-six percent are residential,” Green said.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency earlier on Saturday disputed a $5.52 billion damage assessment figure that was previously attributed to the Pacific Disaster Center and FEMA, calling it inaccurate and saying it was premature to assign even an approximate dollar amount to the damage done on Maui.

Hawaii Gov. Josh Green speaks to reporters during a tour of wildfire damage on Saturday in Lahaina.

The Maui wildfires are the “largest natural disaster Hawaii has ever experienced,” Hawaii Governor Josh Green said at a conference late Saturday.

Green’s comment came as the official death toll rose to 89, with the governor warning that number was expected to increase.

That toll means the wildfires are officially Hawaii’s deadliest natural disaster in state history, surpassing the 61 confirmed deaths from a tsunami in Hilo in 1960.

However, before Hawaii became a state in 1959, in 1946 the islands experienced a devastating tsunami that killed 158 people.

Green also gave several updates about rescue and relief efforts as well as “heartbreaking realities” on the ground.

He said it was a challenge to get people into hotel rooms that had enough electricity.

“We don’t want to be moving people from a place which does have power, working bathrooms… to places which don’t,” he said.

Around 1,000 hotel rooms had been secured for evacuees and first responders, he added, and long term housing solutions were being sought.

“The scope of transfer was extraordinary,” Green added. “Almost 15,000 passengers per day were flown out. It makes our recovery work quite a lot easier and most have left the region. We still have people staying at the airport or making decisions about when they are ready to go. A lot of people are traumatized and traumatized at what they see others are going through.”

A man walks through wildfire damage on Friday in Lahaina.

The death toll from the Maui wildfires is now at 89, Hawaii Governor Josh Green said in a news conference Saturday.   

Green said the death toll is expected to increase.  

The Hawaii Department of Transportation (DOT) will set aside a runway at Kahului Airport, the primary airport on the island of Maui, to accommodate incoming relief supplies, official announced Saturday.

The closure will not affect commercial flights, the DOT said.

According to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), Runway 5/23 is 4,980 feet long and is primarily used by private aircraft.

Kahului is the only airport in Maui equipped to receive flights directly from the US mainland, according to the state government.

Thousands of travelers have been left stranded at the airport in the aftermath of the fires. Hawaiian government officials as well as aviation officials have been discouraging travel to Maui as rescue and relief efforts continue.

People wait in line at a checkpoint to gain access to Lahaina on Saturday, August 12, in Wailuku, Hawaii.

Hawaii Lt. Gov. Sylvia Luke says the state does not intend to intervene in traffic problems building up around Lahaina. Instead, Maui County officials will make those calls to protect public safety.

With the main highway going into Lahaina being opened and closed repeatedly with little warning, residents have voiced frustrations with trying to return to their homes and businesses.

Residents told CNN they were trying to bring in relief supplies, a process hampered by the limited traffic access.

Luke declined to weigh in on the debate over whether the state was sufficiently prepared for the disaster. “All the assessments and investigation will happen but really the priority is to make sure that people are fed and people have a place to stay,” she said.

Hawaii Lt. Gov. Sylvia Luke said more deaths are likely after areas of Maui were ravaged by wildfires this week.

“The County of Maui is still doing its assessment, and our fear is that the death toll will continue to climb,” she told CNN.

There have been at least 80 deaths so far, officials said on Friday.

Luke was also asked about criticism on the emergency response. The state’s integrated outdoor siren warning system was not activated during the fires, according to Hawaii’s Emergency Management Agency. Emergency communications with residents were largely limited to mobile phones and broadcasters at a time when most power and cell service was already cut.

“I think it’s our responsibility to do an assessment and to figure out if there are certain things that could be avoided, how do we protect our citizens, how do we protect individuals who are on our islands. That’s why I think the governor has called for an investigation by our attorney general’s office to have a deep investigation of the Maui County initial response and also the entire response initially,” she said.  

Luke said the review will look at the county, state and federal response, but the focus right now is on helping victims of the fires.

At least 80 people have died in this week’s unprecedented wildfires in Hawaii, officials said Friday.

The fire in Maui’s western community of Lahaina is 85% contained, according to the county. Southeast of Lahaina, near Kihei, the Pulehu fire is 80% contained, the county said, and the blaze burning in the central Upcountry area is 50% contained.

A photographer who documented the ongoing efforts by firefighters in Maui described an intense environment: Tree roots are burning under the ground, he told CNN.

Here’s what else you should know:

Back-and-forth road closures: There have been several closings and re-openings of the primary route into Lahaina, Honoapi’ilani Highway, since yesterday. This morning, there were scores of people sleeping in their cars, waiting for the highway to reopen in a line of vehicles that stretched about a mile. After it was initially reopened to traffic early Friday, officials say the road was closed “due to individuals who went over barricades and closed-off areas and entered restricted, dangerous, active investigation scenes.” A restaurant owner from Lahaina said displaced residents “don’t have anywhere to go,” and that the highway is the only road in and out of the historic town.

Assessing the response: Hawaii has a robust emergency siren warning system, but it sat silent during the deadly wildfires, according to state officials. Hawaii’s attorney general will lead a review of the emergency response to the fires, including the lack of sirens. Some residents who spoke to CNN this week said they feel like the state didn’t do enough to warn them when the flames erupted, while others have said it was an impossible situation for authorities, and that residents associate the sirens with tsunamis, not wildfires.

Recovery efforts: More than a dozen federal agencies have been sent to Hawaii to assist in the recovery efforts, including FEMA, the Department of Health and Human Services, and the National Guard. The US Army Corps of Engineers deployed teams to help manage debris, set up temporary emergency power and consult officials on the recovery, a spokesperson told CNN. Tourism authorities say they’re focused on helping visitors get out of Maui, so “attention and resources” can be focused on residents. The American Red Cross has also been active on the islands.

How to help: CNN Impact Your World is raising money to support relief efforts in Maui. Click here to help, or if you’re looking to donate elsewhere, here’s how to know your donation is going to a legitimate charity.

Mike Cicchino, his wife and rescued dog. 

Family members of Mike Cicchino believed he was going to die after he called them to say goodbye while fighting for his life in the Maui wildfires this week. He has since been reunited with his loved ones after a night he says was “something out of a disaster movie.”

After seeing the flames on Tuesday, the Lahaina resident and his wife grabbed five dogs they were taking care of and followed traffic heading south until they were trapped by closed roads.

“People were running for their lives in all directions because nobody knew where to go,” Cicchino told CNN. “We were surrounded by fire.”

During that time, Cicchino believed they were going to die, so he called his mom for a final goodbye.

Moments after that call, phone service dropped, and Cicchino lost all contact for several hours.

Meanwhile, his mom, Susan Ramos, had immediately called the US Coast Guard to alert them of the fire and her son’s location. 

A view of the wildfire from near the water.

While waiting on his own rescue, Cicchino was shepherding others to safety as his home of 16 years was consumed by fire. 

“I remember jumping the seawall and putting our shirts into the water to wrap around our faces and protect us from the smoke. Out in the ocean we kept getting hit by the embers, so we would hide underwater,” Cicchino said.

Nearly 60 other people were down in the water, filled with panic as they heard cars exploding nearby. 

Despite his eyes being nearly swollen shut by smoke, Cicchino left his wife in a safe space to go look for the dogs that got separated from them along the way. 

As Cicchino was moving people to safety by rocks right off the water, the Coast Guard contacted him asking for a headcount for life vests.

The Coast Guard boat couldn’t make it past a reef, leaving two members with surfboards to attempt the rescue of dozens, including children, the elderly and the injured.

The group panicked at the thought of having to go one by one and risk being separated from their loved ones. Eventually, firefighters made it to the scene, with Cicchino leading people 10 at a time to their rescue. 

On the last trip, Cicchino, his wife and two of the dogs settled in the bed of an emergency vehicle as firefighters sped off to a local triage center. 

Cicchino hugs his family after being reunited.

Cicchino was hooked up to oxygen and was coughing up soot from smoke inhalation.

As things calmed down, he was able to get back in touch with his mom. They cried together on the phone. “All this time my mom thought I was dead,” Cicchino said.

He was reunited with his family at a nearby shelter just a few hours later. “I ran toward my mom and broke down as she hugged me,” he said.

Cicchino said he still has friends who are missing and that so far, four of the five dogs he evacuated with have been reunited with their owners. 

Giulietta and Steven Daiker speak to CNN's Mike Valerio on Saturday, August 12. 

Residents of the wildfire-scorched community of Lahaina on Maui were met mostly with frustration Saturday as they tried to return to their homes and businesses. The main highway going into town has been opened and closed repeatedly with little warning.

Steven and Giulietta Daiker said they were nearly up to the main checkpoint after hours of waiting when they learned they were only going to be turned around. “They couldn’t have told us that three miles back, or couldn’t have been on a bullhorn or on the radio?” Steven asked. “This is just pathetic.”

Authorities have cited “individuals who went over barricades and closed-off areas and entered restricted, dangerous, active investigation scenes” in closing the roadway after initially reopening it.

Residents told CNN they are not only trying to see what is left of their community but also bringing in whatever relief supplies they can — a process hampered by lack of access.

This time-lapse shows the long line of vehicles waiting to get into Lahaina on the Honoapi’ilani Highway on Saturday:

A professional photographer who accompanied firefighters still battling the blazes in Maui said they have been “working around the clock” to keep the fires at bay.

“These guys have been working around the clock since Tuesday, you know, fighting these fires. A lot of them haven’t slept,” Daniel Sullivan told CNN.

Helicopters were dropping “hundreds of gallons of water, just trying to stay on top of it,” he said.

“Under the ground, those roots are burning, and then it can just jump up anywhere. And you have these fires that would start, and you would think there’s no fire there, but when you take the temperature of the soil, it’s 180, 200 degrees in the soil because those roots are burning,” he said.

Firefighters continue to battle three separate fires. The Lahaina fire that has claimed the lives of at least 80 people is 85% contained, the County of Maui said on Friday. Additionally, the Pulehu fire, southeast of Lahaina near Kihei, is 80% contained, the county said in a Facebook post around 3 p.m. local time (9 p.m. ET) Friday. And the fire in Upcountry Maui, the hilly center of the island where firefighters have struggled to access flames in ravines, is now 50% contained.

Sullivan said he grew up in New Orleans and compared what he is seeing in Maui to what the Louisiana city looked like after Hurricane Katrina hit. “lt’s like Katrina, you know, it’s wiped out. There’s nothing left,” he added.

If you’re looking to donate money to help those affected by the wildfires in Hawaii, it’s important to follow certain steps to ensure your money is going to the right place.

Here are tips to make sure your donation is going to a legitimate charity:

How to pick the organization: Several sites help people find and support legitimate charities, including Charity Navigator, BBB Wise Giving Alliance and CharityWatch. Dig deeper into an organization’s reputation after finding a legitimate charity you’re considering supporting.

The US Federal Trade Commission suggests when conducting an online search of any charity, you should add the words “complaint,” “review,” “fraud,” or “scam” to the search terms. Doing this should bring up any bad reviews or red flags about the organization.

It’s also helpful to know if the group you’ve selected is registered as a 501(c)3, meaning it’s registered as a tax-exempt non-profit. Look up the organization in the IRS’s Tax Exempt Organization Search. If the charity is a registered 501(c)3, you may want to save a record of your contribution since it’s tax deductible.

When you feel confident about making your donation, it’s best to use a credit card or check, since those types of payments are easily traceable. After contributing to a charity, review your bank account and credit card statements to ensure you’ve only been charged the agreed-upon amount.

Tips for donating through a platform like GoFundMe: When donating through a platform like GoFundMe, ActBlue or WinRed, make sure to check whether the site is keeping some of your donation as a processing fee.

For many crowdfunding sites, your money will first go directly to the crowdfunding organizer, and not necessarily the end-recipient of the donations. So double-check that the organizer will pass along the funds to the person or cause they claim to be supporting.

Be on the lookout for scams: Don’t let anyone rush you into donating on the phone on the spot; take time to do the proper research. Never donate with a wire transfer or gift card, which is difficult to track if something goes awry. Also, if an organization insists on a donation using cryptocurrency, another hard-to-track form of payment, that should set off alarm bells. Avoid sending funds from payment apps like Venmo or Zelle. Those apps should only be used to send money to people you know, since it’s difficult to recoup funds once someone receives them.

CNN Impact Your World is raising money to support relief efforts in Maui. Click here to help.

Read more on how to help Hawaii here.