Where are the fires in Hawaii? Map shows how far Maui wildfires have spread as death toll reaches 55
Wildfires are continuing to ravage the islands of Hawaii, as the death toll rises to 55, with hundreds of people feared to be missing.
Officials are unclear as to how many people have been displaced, after wildfires fanned by winds of a distant hurricane engulfed the resort town of Lahaina on Maui on Wednesday evening and the death toll is expected to rise even higher.
In a statement issued on Thursday night, Maui County authorities reported a two-person increase in the number of fatalities attributed to the Lahaina, Pulehu, and Upcountry fires. Officials said the Lahaina fire is still active.
Major fires have decimated the resort destination island, while neighbouring Big Island and Oahu have also faced blazes that are now under control.
The town of Lahaina on Maui has been badly damaged, with historic landmarks, including the oldest Banyan tree in the United States, at risk. The tree, which has been on the island for 150 years, is still standing but badly scorched, aerial photographs have shown.
Residents were forced to dive into the ocean to escape the flames, as one local told i that the places she knew had been âwiped off the mapâ, adding that many elderly people and families would have been unable to escape.
The wildfires are continuing to raze the town with more than 1,700 buildings and billions of dollars in property destroyed.
Neighbourhoods were burnt to the ground and the western side of the town, and around 2,000 people were evacuated to shelters after they were forced to abandon their homes.
The fires also destroyed parts of Kula, a mountainous inland residential area.
The disaster has been called one of the deadliest US wildfires in recent history. Travelling in Utah on Thursday, US President Joe Biden pledged the federal response will ensure that âanyone whoâs lost a loved one, or whose home has been damaged or destroyed, is going to get help immediatelyâ.
About 12,000 residents on Maui are thought to be without power, and water shortages on the west coast of the island are causing concern, with authorities saying the outages could last for weeks.
