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Maui search teams sift through ashes, death toll at 99

Maui will take years to recover from the fires that completely destroyed the town of Lahaina.

Maui will take years to recover from the fires that completely destroyed the town of Lahaina. Photo: Getty

Search teams have resumed the painstaking, dangerous task of picking through the ashes of Lahaina, Hawaii for more victims of the Maui wildfires, with the death toll reaching 99 and hundreds of people still unaccounted for.

“It will go up very significantly. We’re exploring all the numbers,” Hawaii Governor Josh Green told CNN, warning the number of deaths could as much as double in the next 10 days.

Nearly a week after the fast-moving fire levelled most of the historic resort town, many residents on Monday were still unable to return to the site of the fire due to the risks posed by possible hot spots and toxic fumes.

Officials have cautioned that identifying victims would be a difficult task, given that the fire burned so intensely that metal structures had melted in the heat.

Govornor Green said cadaver dogs were being used to look for remains, and that the dogs at some points could only work for about 15 minutes at a time because the area is still so hot.

About 85 per cent of the fire in Lahaina is contained, but some embers are still burning.

The intense and fast-moving blaze was the deadliest natural disaster in Hawaii’s history and the toll of 99 is the largest number of deaths from an American wildfire since 1918, when 453 people died in the Cloquet Fire in Minnesota.

At a White House briefing on Monday, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Administrator Deanne Criswell said more cadaver dogs were on their way to Lahaina, but that the search was “extremely hazardous” and would take time.

“There are structures that are partially standing that engineers have to clear first to make sure it’s safe for the search-and-rescue teams to go into,” Criswell said.

More than 3200 residents of Hawaii have registered to receive federal assistance, and that number is expected to rise, Jeremy Greenberg, FEMA’s director of response operations, told reporters. FEMA has 300 personnel in Hawaii assisting state and local officials, from search and rescue teams to structural engineers to mortuary service personnel, Greenberg said.

Meanwhile, the search for missing loved ones persisted.

A crowd-sourced database circulating on social media showed some 1130 individuals listed as “not located” on a list of about 5200 people as of Monday afternoon. The database includes names collected from missing persons notices posted at shelters as well as information submitted by loved ones.

The American Red Cross had received more than 2500 calls from people trying to find relatives and friends missing from the fire, with 800 inquiries resolved.

The cause of the fire has not been determined, and many survivors said they went unwarned before the inferno rapidly swept through town, fuelled by wind gusts that reached 130 kilometres per hour. Some people were forced to flee into the Pacific Ocean to escape the flames.

Two lawsuits have already been filed on behalf of residents against Hawaiian Electric Industries, claiming its equipment was responsible. A spokesman for the utility told CNN it would not comment on pending litigation. The company said it would co-operate with the investigation.

Officials have urged tourists to consider rescheduling travel plans to West Maui, and visitors have largely heeded calls to depart the island. About 46,000 people had flown out of Kahului Airport, Maui’s main airport, between Wednesday and Saturday, according to the Hawaii Tourism Authority.

Some residents voiced their frustration on social media with tourists who chose to stay in Maui.

“We don’t want tourists here at all,” Basil Spring said in a post on Monday on X, formerly known as Twitter.

“We need the time to heal as an island and to take care of our Lahaina ohana,” he said, using a Hawaiian term for “family.”

“Get out and stay out.”

But businesses in other parts of the island were concerned that cutting off tourism for all of Maui could hurt workers elsewhere.

“Fifty per cent of our visitor economy still exists and is thriving in South Maui,” the Maui Fresh Streatery food truck posted on Facebook.

“Lahaina and West Maui is CLOSED for tourism. Respect our time to deal with this tragedy. Don’t try to sneak in and play tourist there because it is sacred ground. But I truly feel the Maui is still open.”

– with AAP

Topics: Maui
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