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- By Bernd Debusmann Jr
- BBC News
Watch: Videos show wildfires threatening Maui towns
Residents of a Hawaiian town were reportedly forced to jump into the sea to escape flames as fierce wildfires sweep across parts of Maui.
Local media reported “apocalyptic scenes” in Lahaina, parts of which were destroyed or severely damaged by the blaze.
An unknown number of residents have been treated for burn injuries and smoke inhalation at local hospitals.
The Lahaina fire is one of at least seven ongoing in Hawaii.
The Associated Press has reported that a number of burn victims were flown to hospitals on the island of Oahu, where Hawaii’s capital of Honolulu is located. The injured included at least one woman in her 60s who was in critical condition in a local burn unit.
Hawaii’s acting governor, Sylvia Luke, told CNN that Maui’s hospital system is “overburdened with burn patients, people suffering from inhalation”.
“911 is down. Cell service is down. Phone service is down. And that’s been part of the problem,” she added.
Authorities had earlier said that a firefighter was hospitalised and in stable condition after inhaling smoke.
There have so far been no deaths reported.
A local affiliate of CBS News, the BBC’s US partner, reported that dozens of homes and businesses have been destroyed in Lahaina, a city of about 13,000 people on the western part of the island of Maui, the second largest and third most populated island in the state.
According to the US Coast Guard, 12 people were rescued after fleeing into the ocean to escape the fire.
While the extent of the damage is unclear, social media videos from the island show the town’s main street and several local businesses burning.
“Buildings on both sides were engulfed,” local business owner Alan Dickar told CBS. “There were no fire trucks at that point. I think the fire department was overwhelmed.”
Mr Dickar added that “a lot of people just lost their jobs because a lot of businesses burned. A lot of people lost their homes… this is going to be devastating for Maui.”
Another local resident, Dustin Kaleiopu, told Hawaii News Now that his house was among those destroyed in the fire.
“Everything that we’d ever known was gone. Our church, our schools, every single memory we had on this household,” he said. “Everything was gone in the blink of an eye.”
The fire in Lahaina is one of several in Hawaii fuelled by strong winds by Hurricane Dora hundreds of miles offshore, low humidity and dry air, according to the National Weather Service’s Honolulu office. Local officials have said that the winds have complicated efforts to use helicopters for firefighting operations.
The fires prompted evacuation orders and road closures throughout Maui and parts of nearby Hawaii island, with heavy traffic reported near Lahaina as people fled the fires.
As of Wednesday morning, all public schools in Maui were closed except one.
Four shelters have been set up for residents who have been forced to flee their homes. While the number of people who have sought shelter is unclear, officials have said that over 1,000 are currently being housed at the largest of the facilities.
Image source, Senator Tim Richards on Facebook
Footage and images posted to social media shows fires sweeping through Maui and Hawaii Island on 8 August
About 15,000 people remain without power, as of 14:00 EST (19:00 BST), according to PowerOutage.us.
On Tuesday night, Ms Luke issued an emergency declaration and activated the state’s National Guard. The state’s governor, Josh Green, is travelling.
“It’s definitely one of the more challenging days for our island given that it’s multiple fires, multiple evacuations in the different district areas,” County of Maui spokesperson Mahina Martin told CBS on Tuesday.
Fires in Hawaii are typically smaller than those which plague California and other parts of the western continental US.
Experts have warned, however, that they are often more damaging, as Hawaii’s ecosystem evolved without fires before the arrival of humans and can remove vegetation.
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