6 killed in wildfires burning in Hawaii; authorities urge tourists to stay away

Several large wildfires across Hawaii, fueled by winds connected to a hurricane, killed at least six people, displaced hundreds of families and trapped possibly thousands of tourists, officials said Wednesday.

The disaster’s magnitude stunned the local government - and the toll is expected to rise. “We expected rain, we expected floods,” Lt. Gov. Sylvia Luke said in a morning news conference local time. “We never anticipated in this state that a hurricane that did not make impact on our islands would cause these kind of wildfires.”

Search-and-rescue operations were underway Wednesday as authorities assessed the extent of the damage. Many residents were without power, cell signal and accessible roads as of morning local time. Authorities said it was too soon to provide an exact number of those wounded, adding that injuries extended beyond burns, including smoke inhalation, which one firefighter suffered.

Officials signed an emergency proclamation on Wednesday and discouraged tourists from traveling to Maui – the island hit hardest and where shelters are at maximum capacity – Luke said. Authorities are working with the main airlines, issuing waivers and lowering fares so trapped visitors can evacuate as soon as possible. A convention center on Oahu is prepared to shelter as many as 4,000 tourists, officials said.

The blazes destroyed much of the popular tourist town of Lahaina on the island of Maui, said Richard Bissen, mayor of Maui County. The fires caused mass evacuations and decimated buildings throughout the island. Shelters are overrun, power is out for more than 2,000 residents, and access to the west side of the island is hampered by mass road closures. The extent of structural damage, and the impact on businesses, remains unclear as officials prioritize search-and-rescue efforts, but authorities anticipate the damage to be extensive.

Dry conditions and forceful winds connected to Hurricane Dora also ignited fires on the island of Hawaii, known as the Big Island. Officials warned residents of possible “imminent disaster due to property damage and/or bodily injury.”

Mitch Roth, mayor of Hawaii County, said fires on the Big Island are contained for the most part, adding that he was “still hesitant to say we have it completely under control.” Firefighters continued Wednesday to combat active fires.

“Our thoughts and our prayers are with Maui,” Roth said. “We are not out of the woods yet, but the situation in Maui should take precedent.”

Hawaii Gov. Josh Green, out of state on personal travel, said Wednesday he was returning to Hawaii “immediately.” On Tuesday, Luke, who is serving as acting governor, declared an emergency relief period through at least Aug. 15 and activated the Hawaii National Guard to help with the disaster. The fires have destroyed hundreds of acres in regions including Kula, North Kohala and South Kohala.

“Local people have lost everything. They’ve lost their house, they’ve lost their animals. It’s devastating,” said James Tokioka, director of Hawaii’s Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism.

President Biden said in a statement Wednesday that the Coast Guard and Navy Third Fleet are supporting response and rescue efforts.

“The U.S. Marines are providing Black Hawk Helicopters to fight the fires on the Big Island,” Biden said. “The Department of Transportation is working with commercial airlines to evacuate tourists from Maui, and the Department of the Interior and the United States Department of Agriculture stand ready to support post fire recovery efforts.”

Months of drought primed the islands for fire risks, with more than a third of Maui County under at least moderate drought as of Aug. 1, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor. Abnormally dry conditions developed rapidly there in June and have persisted, with slightly below-normal precipitation during what is a typically dry time of year.

Weather patterns have allowed fires to spread quickly. A strong high-pressure system north of the islands is keeping conditions dry and sunny, and tradewinds have intensified as Category 4 Dora passes hundreds of miles to the south. The difference between that high pressure zone and Dora’s low pressure has fueled damaging winds, the National Weather Service said.

Winds that had surged above 60 mph Tuesday were slackening Wednesday, said Ian Morrison, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Honolulu. They were forecast to be calm enough for the Weather Service to discontinue “red flag” fire weather warnings by Thursday, he said.

But even under normal weather patterns, he added, winds are expected to gust up to 40 mph. “The winds aren’t going to drop off, but we’ll be out of those critical fire weather parameters,” Morrison said.

Beyond that – absent another tropical system – no significant rain is expected to ease drought conditions until the wet season begins in the fall. Areas of severe drought, now covering about 5% of Maui County and 1% of the entire state, are likely to expand, Morrison said.

Because Hawaii communities and ecosystems have not faced significant wildfire threats in the past, preparations to prevent fires and limit their impact is lagging, said Elizabeth Pickett, co-director of the Hawaii Wildfire Management Organization. That includes work to harden homes so they’re more resistant to embers catching fire and to manage plant growth that fuels fires.

“It’s just kind of a nightmare recipe,” Pickett said. Unlike in the western United States, Hawaii’s forests are not adapted to coexisting with wildfire, Pickett said, so forests that are burned typically don’t grow back. Eventual rains can also wash debris into the oceans, smothering corals and ruining water quality.

A similar outbreak of fires occurred in 2018, when Hurricane Lane struck the islands, dumping some 17 inches of rainfall on the Big Island and causing landslides - but also fanning fires on Maui and Oahu that burned about 3,000 acres, destroyed 21 structures and required a hurricane shelter to be relocated.

Pickett said the repeated fire risks demonstrate the need for more attention and resources paid to reducing wildfire risks in Hawaii, which few people consider to be vulnerable to the threat. “This is not a one-off,” she said. “We have big fires in Hawaii.”

Across Hawaii, more than 14,000 customers lost power. People trying to drive to safety posted on Twitter, recently renamed X, that they were hampered by long traffic delays and road closures. The National Weather Service warned residents to expect “difficult travel.”

Videos shared to social media Wednesday showed flames engulfing the streets of Lahaina, which has about 13,000 residents. The U.S. Coast Guard rescued 12 people who had fled into the ocean to avoid smoke and flames.

Firefighters responding to the blazes faced strong winds, which prevented helicopters from dumping water onto the fires and gathering more information about the blazes, officials said.

Several schools in Maui closed amid the strong winds, with officials citing “unsafe campus conditions and damage” caused by the brush fires and weather. The state’s Education Department said Wednesday that Maui High School would be used as an evacuation shelter.

“This is not going to be a short journey. It’s going to take weeks, maybe months, to assess the damage,” said Luke, the lieutenant governor. “We are just struck by the devastation felt on Maui.”