Hawaii suffers deadliest US wildfire in years

WAILUKU, Hawaii (AP):

The search of the wildfire wreckage on the Hawaiian island of Maui on Thursday revealed a wasteland of burned-out homes and obliterated communities as firefighters battled the stubborn blaze that has already claimed 36 lives, making it the deadliest in the US in five years.

Aerial footage showed whole sections of the historic town of Lahaina had been reduced to gray ash, including on Front Street, where tourists shopped and dined just days ago.

Smoking heaps of rubble lay piled high next to the waterfront in the town, which dates to the 1700s and is the biggest community on the island's west side. Homes and shops were stripped to their frames or less, boats in the harbour were scorched, and smoke hovered over the leafless skeletons of charred trees.

"It's horrifying. I've flown here 52 years and I've never seen anything come close to that," said Richard Olsten, a helicopter pilot for a tour company. "We had tears in our eyes."

Fueled by a dry summer and strong winds from a passing hurricane, the fire started Tuesday and took Maui by surprise, racing through parched growth covering the island.

Maui County said late Wednesday that at least 36 people had died, making it the deadliest US wildfire since the 2018 Camp Fire in California, which killed at least 85 people and laid waste to the town of Paradise. The Hawaii toll could rise, though, as rescuers reach parts of the island that had been unreachable due to three ongoing fires or obstructions.

Officials said earlier Wednesday that 271 structures had been damaged or destroyed and that dozens of people had been injured, including some critically.