Hawaii Wildfire Death Toll Hits 80

As search teams scoured through the smoking remains of Lahaina as Hawaiian officials tried to figure out how the blaze spread so quickly and without any warning across the historic tourist town, the number of people killed in the Maui wildfires increased to 80.

The flames surpassed the tsunami that killed 61 people on the Big Island of Hawaii in 1960, the year Hawaii joined the United States, as the worst natural catastrophe in the state's history.

Officials have issued a warning that search teams using cadaver dogs could potentially discover further victims of the fire that destroyed 1,000 buildings, caused hundreds to lose their homes, and would probably take many years and billions of dollars to reconstruct.

According to US Senator Brian Schatz of Hawaii, "Nobody has entered any of these burned-out structures and that's where we regrettably anticipate that the death toll will rise significantly."

Later, he told CNN that Lahaina looked like a battle zone that had been blasted out, where the heat had melted engine blocks.

According to a statement from Maui County, the Lahaina fire, which started in the bush and moved into the town, was still burning but 85% controlled. On the island, two further flames were 80% and 50% suppressed.

It was still unknown three days after the catastrophe if some homeowners had gotten any notice before the fire destroyed their homes.

The island includes emergency sirens intended to warn of natural disasters and other threats, but they did not appear to have sounded during the fire.

"I authorized a comprehensive review this morning to make sure that we know exactly what happened and when," Hawaii Governor Josh Green told CNN, referring the warning sirens.

Officials have not offered a detailed picture of precisely what notifications were sent out, and whether they were done via text message, email or phone calls.

Green described multiple, simultaneous challenges, with telecommunications down and firefighters concentrating on other major wildfires when the greatest threat to Lahaina arose.

In any event, he said, "We will do all that we can to find out how to protect our people more going forward."

Maui County Fire Chief Bradford Ventura said at a Thursday press conference that the fire's speed made it "nearly impossible" for frontline responders to communicate with the emergency management officials who would typically provide real-time evacuation orders.

"They were basically self-evacuating with fairly little notice," he said, referring to residents of the neighborhood where the fire initially struck.

County Mayor Richard Bissen told NBC's "Today" show on Friday that he did not know whether sirens went off but said the fire moved extraordinarily quickly.

"I think this was an impossible situation," he said.

The disaster began unfolding just after midnight on Tuesday when a brush fire was reported in the town of Kula, roughly 35 miles (56 km) from Lahaina. About five hours later that morning, power was knocked out in Lahaina, according to residents.

In updates posted on Facebook that morning, Maui County said the Kula fire had consumed hundreds of acres of pastureland, but that a small three-acre (1.2-hecatre) brush fire that cropped up in Lahaina had been contained.

By that afternoon, however, the situation had turned more dire. At around 3:30 p.m., according to the county's updates, the Lahaina fire suddenly flared up. Some residents began evacuating while people, including hotel guests, on the town's west side were instructed to shelter in place.

In the ensuing hours, the county posted a series of evacuation orders on Facebook as the fire spread through the town.

Some witnesses said they had little advance notice, describing their terror when the blaze consumed Lahaina in what seemed a matter of minutes. Several people were forced to leap into the Pacific Ocean to save themselves.

The Lahaina evacuation was complicated by its coastal location next to hills, meaning there were only two ways out, at best, said Andrew Rumbach, a specialist in climate and communities at the Urban Institute in Washington.

"This is the nightmare scenario," said Rumbach, a former urban planning professor at the University of Hawaii. "A fast-moving fire in a densely populated place with difficult communications, and not a lot of good options in terms of evacuations."

County officials began allowing Lahaina residents back to their homes on Friday, even though much of Maui's western side remained without power and water. But the long traffic jam on the Kuihelani Highway crawled to a halt after an accident killed a pedestrian and led officials to close the highway in both directions.

Police barricaded central Lahaina as health officials warned the burnt areas were highly toxic and that inhaling dust and airborne particles was hazardous.

"Hot spots still exist and wearing a mask and gloves is advised," Maui County said in a statement.