Maui wildfire map: Where are the fires in Hawaii?

Thousands of Hawaiians and many visiting tourists raced to flee the Pacific state over the past week as deadly wildfires swept through the Big Island and Maui, killing at least 99 people in what is already America’s deadliest wildfire in more than 100 years. person. years.

Senator Brian Schatz said the historic 1700s town of Lahaina had burned almost completely, as the fire left behind mounds of rubble where historic buildings once stood.

“There is very little left,” Hawaii Governor Josh Green said in a video message Sunday, as he thanked Joe Biden and the Federal Emergency Management Agency for the emergency relief effort.

Maui County officials said that tens of thousands of people have been evacuated from the island by air, and dozens have been injured in addition to the fatalities. Meanwhile, the grim search for survivors continues.

The fires were fanned by strong winds from Hurricane Dora, passing far to the south. It is the latest in a series of disasters caused by severe weather around the world this summer. Experts say the climate crisis increases the likelihood of such events.

The fires were “the end of the world,” said Mason Garvey, a Lahaina resident who fled the town, adding, “We went through the worst disaster I’ve ever seen. All of Lahaina burned to a crisp.”

“This is a very sad day,” Maui Mayor Richard Bissen said Wednesday. The risk of losing any life is tragic. As we mourn with their families, we offer prayers for comfort at this unbearable time.”

Follow live updates of the Maui wildfires here

Adding to the problems on the ground are increasing reports of looting and a series of armed robberies in Lahaina, with local business owners calling for law enforcement to take control of the situation.

Meanwhile, authorities warned that efforts to find and identify the victims were still in their infancy, with crews and mortuary dogs covering only three percent of the search area as of Saturday.

And in better news, the Hawaii Electric Company reported that it had restored power to 60 percent of its customers as of Monday morning.

Where are the current wildfires in Hawaii?

The map below shows the areas currently affected by wildfires.

When fires first broke out on Maui last week, some adults and children were forced to dive into the ocean for safety.

Video shows locals jumping into the Pacific Ocean as the flames spread to the port.

“We had to push to escape the heat and the ash. The harbor quickly filled with black smoke. We made it safe to the Lanai,” said Brantyn Stephens, who filmed some footage from the scene.

According to Hawaii Department of Transportation Administrator Ed Snevin, more than 11,000 people were relocated from Maui on Wednesday, August 9. Another 14,000 followed the next day.

Incredibly, vacationers and some celebrities including hotel heiress Paris Hilton tried to move forward with their summer plans to visit Hawaii, inviting harsh rebukes from local officials and condemnations on social media.

What fuels forest fires?

It is not yet determined what first started the fires, but it is believed that their spread was greatly exacerbated by high winds from the course located several hundred miles off the south coast of the islands.

According to the National Weather Service, winds reached 60 mph at one point.

told Robert Bohlen, a meteorologist at the service bureau in Honolulu New York times Although the typhoon was not directly responsible for the deterioration of conditions in the island nation, it did make the winds stronger in the region.

Also contributing to the disaster was the unchecked spread of dry, non-native plants like guinea grass across Hawaii in recent decades, which were allowed to populate former farmland and deforested sites and inadvertently provided the perfect fuel for the bonfires.

Claims by overly online conspiracy theorists that “space lasers” are to blame are widespread.

Additional reports from agencies.