Hawaii wildfires fanned by strong winds prompt evacuations in Maui: Live updates

Hospitals on the Hawaiian island of Maui are overwhelmed with burn victims from raging wildfires that have downed the island’s 911 and cellphone services, acting governor Sylvia Luke says.

Ms Luke told CNN that the state was facing an “unprecedented” natural disaster and called on the White House to declare a federal emergency to provide immediate support.

While the exact number of injuries is unclear, the acting governor said the Maui Memorial Medical Center had been overrun and lacked a specialist burn unit to treat survivors.

“We are already in communication with other hospital systems about relieving the burden — the reality is that we need to fly people out of Maui to give them burn support because Maui Hospital cannot do extensive burn treatment,” Ms Luke told CNN.

Strong winds forced firefighting helicopters to be grounded for safety precautions overnight on Tuesday, and continue to play havoc with rescue efforts.

Maui Fire officials have warned that erratic wind, challenging terrain, steep slopes and dropping humidity, are making it difficult to predict path and speed of a wildfire.

“The fire can be a mile or more from your house, but in a minute or two, it can be at your house,” Fire Assistant Chief Jeff Giesea said in a statement.

The American Red Cross has set up emergency shelters at Maui High School, Kihei, Lahaina and Pukalani.

The climate crisis has created warmer, dryer conditions that are increasing the risk and extent of wildfires across the western United States, according to the Center for Climate and Energy Conditions.

On Maui, three large fires are raging around Lahaina, the first capital of Hawaii, at a popular tourist resort area near Kihei Kalama Village, and in the inland mountainous region of Kula.

Maui Mayor Richard Bissen told the Associated Press that about 80 people were evacuated from 40 homes around Kula.

No deaths have been reported, but a firefighter who was battling the West Maui fire was taken to hospital after suffering smoke inhalation, according to officials. He is in stable condition.

A large fire burning on the northern side of Big Island has destroyed about 1800 acres of land, and is not yet contained, according to officials. The extent of the damage is not yet known.

A dozen residents were pulled from the water off the coast of Lahaina, on Maui, after “entering the ocean due to smoke and fire conditions”, according to a Maui County emergency alert.

They were transported to “safe areas” by a US Coast Goard (USCG) 45-foot rapid response vessel.

Dramatic footage posted to social media showed “apocalyptic” fires sweeping through apartments and shops along the Lahaina waterfront.

The USCG also sent in an MH-65 Dolphin helicopter and the Joseph Gerczak fast response cutter to assist with the rescue effort.

Evacuations are underway across multiple Hawaiian islands after wildfires fuelled by 70mph (112kms) wind gusts from Hurricane Dora destroyed buildings, cut off power to 15,000 residents and burned through thousands of acres.

Fire crews on Maui were battling multiple blazes concentrated in two areas: the popular tourist destination of West Maui and an inland, mountainous region. In west Maui 911 service was not available and residents were directed to call the police department.

Because of the wind gusts, helicopters weren’t able to dump water on the fires from the sky — or gauge more precise fire sizes — and firefighters were encountering roads blocked by downed trees and power lines as they worked the inland fires, Martin said.

About 14,500 customers in Maui were without power early Wednesday, according to poweroutage.us.

“It’s definitely one of the more challenging days for our island given that it’s multiple fires, multiple evacuations in the different district areas,” Martin said.

Fire was widespread in Lahaina, including Front Street, an area of the town popular with tourists, County of Maui spokesperson Mahina Martin said in a phone interview early Wednesday. Traffic has been very heavy as people try to evacuate and officials asked people who weren’t in an evacuation area to shelter in place to avoid adding to the traffic, she said.

The National Weather Service said Hurricane Dora, which was passing to the south of the island chain at a safe distance of 500 miles (805 kilometers), was partly to blame for gusts above 60 mph (97 kph) that knocked out power as night fell, rattled homes and grounded firefighting helicopters. Dangerous fire conditions created by strong winds and low humidity were expected to last through Wednesday afternoon, the weather service said.

Acting Gov. Sylvia Luke issued an emergency proclamation on behalf of Gov. Josh Green, who is traveling, and activated the Hawaii National Guard.

Officials were not aware of any deaths and knew of only one injury, a firefighter who was in stable condition at a hospital after experiencing smoke inhalation, Martin said. There’s no count available for the number of structures affected by the fires or the number of people affected by evacuations, but Martin said there are four shelters open, with more than 1,000 people at the largest.

“This is so unprecedented,” Martin said, noting that multiple districts were affected. An emergency in the night is terrifying, she said, and the darkness makes it hard to gauge the extent of the damage.

“Right now it is all-hands-on-deck and we are anxious for daybreak,” she said.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency approved a disaster declaration to provide assistance with a fire that threatened about 200 homes in and around Kohala Ranch, a rural community with a population of more than 500 on the Big Island, according to the Hawaii Emergency Management Agency. When the request was made, the fire had burned more than 600 acres (243 hectares) and was uncontained. Much of Hawaii was under a red flag warning that continued Wednesday, and two other uncontrolled fires were burning on the Big Island and Maui, officials said.

Wildfires in Hawaii fanned by strong winds burned multiple structures, forcing evacuations and closing schools in several communities Wednesday, and rescuers pulled a dozen people escaping smoke and flames from the ocean.

The U.S. Coast Guard responded to areas where people went into the ocean to escape the fire and smoky conditions, Maui County said in a statement. The Coast Guard tweeted that a crew rescued 12 people from the water off Lahaina. A firefighter responding to the West Maui fire was taken to a hospital after experiencing smoke inhalation and was in stable condition, according to Maui County.

Maui County tweeted that multiple roads in Lahaina were closed with a warning: “Do NOT go to Lahaina town.”

Ten Maui schools are closed on Wednesday because of the fires, evacuations efforts and dangerous conditions created by the heavy winds, the Hawaii Department of Education has said.

Officials said that several schools in the southern parts of the island were closed because of the “spreading bushfires and evacuations in the area”.

Maui High School will be used as a shelter for those having been evacuated and will be closed to students and staff.

A number of schools were also shut down on Tuesday because of concerns regarding the heavy winds that the authorities aided in the spreading of the blaze.