Maui wildfire survivors start returning to ruins, death toll likely to rise

The grim work of tallying the dead after a ferocious wildfire on the Hawaiian island of Maui came into sharp focus Saturday as crews picked through the devastation, marking homes with a bright orange X to signal they had searched for bodies and HR when they found human remains.

At least 80 people perished in the inferno that swept through the centuries-old town of Lahaina on Maui's west coast. As the homes that remained standing got their marks, residents who barely made it out alive returned to take an inventory of their loss.

Most of our focus will be on humans today, Gov Josh Green said Saturday as he and representatives of the Federal Emergency Management Agency stood under the scorched branches of an old, treasured banyan tree on historic Front Street. Green said operations were now centered on the loss of life.

The fire reduced hundreds of homes to ash, sending emergency workers scrambling Saturday to find temporary housing for those lucky enough to survive. Communications were still difficult, with 30 cell towers still offline. Power outages were expected to last several weeks on the western side of the island. Authorities, meanwhile, warned that the death toll could rise as search efforts continue.

Those who escaped were counting their blessings, thankful to be alive as they mourned those who didn't make it.

Retired fire captain Geoff Bogar and his friend of 35 years, Franklin Trejos, initially stayed behind to help others in Lahaina and save Bogar's house. But as the flames moved closer and closer Tuesday afternoon, they knew they had to get out. Each escaped to his own car. When Bogar's wouldn't start, he broke through a window to get out, then crawled on the ground until a police patrol found him and brought him to a hospital.

Trejos wasn't as lucky. When Bogar returned the next day, he found the bones of his 68-year-old friend in the back seat of his car, lying on top of the remains of the Bogars' beloved 3-year-old golden retriever Sam, whom he had tried to protect.

Trejos, a native of Costa Rica, had lived for years with Bogar and his wife, Shannon Weber-Bogar, helping her with her seizures when her husband couldn't. He filled their lives with love and laughter.

God took a really good man, Weber-Bogar said.

Bill Wyland, who lives on the island of Oahu but owns an art gallery on Lahaina's historic Front Street, fled on his Harley Davidson, whipping the motorcycle onto empty sidewalks Tuesday to avoid traffic-jammed roads as embers burned the hair off the back of his neck.

Riding in winds he estimated to be at least 70 miles per hour (112 kilometers per hour), he passed a man on a bicycle who was madly pedalling for his life.

It's something you'd see in a Twilight Zone, horror movie or something, Wyland said.

Wyland realised just how lucky he had been when he returned to downtown Lahaina on Thursday.

It was devastating to see all the burned-out cars. There was nothing that was standing, he said.

His gallery was destroyed, along with the works of 30 artists.

Emergency managers in Maui were searching for places to house people displaced from their homes. As many as 4,500 people are in need of shelter, county officials said on Facebook early Saturday, citing figures from the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Pacific Disaster Center.

Flyovers by the Civil Air Patrol found 1,692 structures destroyed almost all of them residential. Nine boats sank in Lahaina Harbour, officials determined using sonar.

The wildfires are the state's deadliest natural disaster in decades, surpassing a 1960 tsunami that killed 61 people. An even deadlier tsunami in 1946, which killed more than 150 on the Big Island, prompted development of a territory-wide emergency system with sirens that are tested monthly.

Hawaii emergency management records do not indicate warning sirens sounded before people had to run for their lives. Officials sent alerts to mobile phones, televisions and radio stations, but widespread power and cellular outages may have limited their reach.

Fuelled by a dry summer and strong winds from a passing hurricane, the wildfires on Maui raced through parched brush covering the island.

The most serious blaze swept into Lahaina on Tuesday and destroyed nearly every building in the town of 13,000, leaving a grid of gray rubble wedged between the blue ocean and lush green slopes.

Front Street, the heart of the historic downtown and the economic hub of Maui, was nearly empty of life Saturday morning. An Associated Press journalist encountered one barefoot resident carrying a laptop and passport who asked where the nearest shelter was. Another, riding his bicycle, took stock of the damage at the harbour, where he said his boat caught fire and sank.

A fire engine and a few construction trucks were seen driving through the neighbourhood, but it remained eerily devoid of human and official government activity. Some residents have expressed frustration about the difficulty of accessing their homes because of road closures and police checkpoints.

Maui water officials warned Lahaina and Kula residents not to drink running water, which may be contaminated even after boiling, and to only take short, lukewarm showers in well-ventilated rooms to avoid possible chemical vapour exposure.

The wildfire is already projected to be the second-costliest disaster in Hawaii history, behind only Hurricane Iniki in 1992, according to disaster and risk modelling firm Karen Clark & Company.