BAt least six people have died in severe bush and forest fires in the US state of Hawaii. This was announced by Maui County Mayor Richard Bisson on Wednesday. However, this number could still increase, as search and rescue work on the island is currently being continued. The full extent of the damage is not yet foreseeable, it said.
Hawaii’s governor Josh Green previously spoke of a “terrible disaster”. Many casualties have been averted through the “heroic” efforts of the emergency services, but “some loss of life” must be expected. Travel to the archipelago was discouraged.
People jumped into the sea
The fires are raging on the island of Maui and Hawaii, the largest island in the state of the same name. According to the governor, large parts of the city of Lahaina, Maui were destroyed. Several hundred families lost their homes. In addition, injured people with burns and smoke inhalation were taken to hospitals. According to media reports, people even jumped into the sea to flee the flames. The US Coast Guard announced on the online platform Twitter, which was recently renamed X, that it had rescued twelve people from the water.
A state of emergency has been declared for the two counties of Maui and Hawaii. This will mobilize the Hawaii National Guard to assist responders in affected communities. In some cases, the emergency call failed in the affected areas. According to the website Poweroutage.us, more than 15,000 homes and businesses across Hawaii were also without power.
Hurricane Dora, which is passing south of the US state’s islands, is partly responsible for the rapidly spreading fires, according to the authorities. “The fact that we have wildfires in multiple areas that are indirectly attributable to a hurricane is unprecedented. This is something Hawaiians and the state have never experienced,” Maui Deputy Governor Sylvia Luke told CNN. She also said local hospitals were “overwhelmed with patients with burns” and people who had inhaled smoke. “The reality is we have to fly people out of Maui to treat their burns.”
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