Hawaii wildfires: Death toll rises to 114; Biden will visit area

LAHAINA, Hawaii — The death toll continues to rise and more deaths are expected after fires blazed last week over parts of Maui, marking the nation’s deadliest wildfire in more than a century.

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Death toll rises to 114

Update 10:05 a.m. EDT Aug. 19: Maui County announced that the Maui Police Department reported three additional deaths on Friday, bringing the total number of confirmed deaths to 114.

No new identifications were reported Friday. Police say that 78% of the area has been searched, according to Maui County.

Maui County police chief said, according to The New York Times, that children are believed to be among the dead but their names have not been released or possibly not determined yet.

- Jessica Goodman, Cox Media Group National Content Desk

Just under 60% of fire area has been searched

Update 9:25 a.m. EDT Aug. 18: Officials in Maui County identified another victim of the Hawaii fires on Thursday night local time as crews continue to search for hundreds of missing people.

Authorities identified Donna Gomes, 71, of Lahaina, as one of the at least 111 people who died after flames sparked last week.

The Lahaina fire was one of four that began on Maui on Aug. 8. It has burned through an estimated 2,168 acres and is 90% contained. Police said that 58% of the area had been searched by Thursday night.

Authorities continue working to contain the Kula and Olinda fires, which are 80% and 85% contained, respectively. Those fires have so far burned about 1,280 acres. A fourth fire, the Pulehu or Kihei fire, has been fully contained, though officials cautioned that the label “does not mean it has been extinguished.”

“It means that firefighters have the blaze fully surrounded,” officials said in an update posted on social media. “A fire is declared ‘extinguished,’ when fire personnel believe there is nothing left burning.”

It remained unclear how the deadly Lahaina fire began. On Thursday, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives sent a team to Hawaii to investigate.

— Theresa Seiger, Cox Media Group National Content Desk

3 more victims identified as death toll rises

Update 10:45 a.m. EDT Aug. 17: Officials in Maui County said the death toll from fires that began burning last week rose by one to 111 on Wednesday night local time as crews continue battling the flames.

Authorities also identified three more of the victims as Lahaina residents Melva Benjamin, 71, Virginia Dofa, 90 and Alfredo Galinato, 79.

Of the four fires reported in the county beginning Aug. 8, one — the Pulehu/Kihei fire — was 100% contained as of Saturday. Three others — the Olinda Kula and Lahaina fires — were between 80% and 90% contained on Wednesday night. Officials estimate that the flames burned at least 3,450 acres.

— Theresa Seiger, Cox Media Group National Content Desk

Death toll rises to 110

Update 9:46 p.m. EDT Aug. 16: Hawaii Gov. Josh Green announced that four more people were confirmed as fatalities in the Lahaina wildfire, bringing the death toll to 110.

The governor announced the new figure at a news conference on Wednesday, Hawaii News Now reported.

Officials added that 35 autopsies have been completed so far and seven people have been identified, according to the news outlet. Five victims were identified by fingerprints, while the other two were discovered using DNA.

— Bob D’Angelo, Cox Media Group National Content Desk

Bidens to visit Maui on Monday

Update 9:25 a.m. EDT Aug. 16: White House officials on Wednesday announced that President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden will travel to Maui on Monday to meet with first responders and survivors following deadly wildfires that sparked last week.

The Bidens will meet first with state and local leaders to see the impact of the fires and discuss the next steps for recovery.

“Over the past week, President Biden has stayed closely in touch with FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell, Hawaii Senators Mazie Hirono and Brian Schatz, as well as Hawaii Governor Josh Green, who advised that the search and recovery efforts are expected to be at a stage early next week to allow for a presidential visit,” press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said in a statement.

“The President continues to marshal a whole-of-government response to the deadly Maui fires, and he has committed to delivering everything that the people of Hawaii need from the federal government as they recover from this disaster.”

— Theresa Seiger, Cox Media Group National Content Desk

Death toll hits 106; identities of two released

Update 6:30 a.m. EDT Aug. 16: The death toll from the Lahaina wildfire increased to 106 as state officials began to release the identities of those who died in the fire.

Robert Dyckman, 74, and Buddy Jantoc, 79, both of Lahaina, are the first victims of the wildfires to be identified, according to officials.

Only five of the dead had been identified, according to CNN. County officials said the names of the three others would be announced after their relatives are notified.

— Debbie Lord, Cox Media Group National Content Desk

Death toll rises to 101, governor says

Update 10:22 p.m. EDT Aug. 15: Hawaii Gov. Josh Green revised the death toll in the Maui wildfires to 101 people after two victims were discovered in Lahaina, the Honolulu Star-Advertiser reported.

“We are heartsick that we’ve had such loss,” Green said in an address on Tuesday afternoon.

Green also announced that the Lahaina Bypass will reopen beginning on Wednesday, according to Hawaii News Now. The road will be open initially only to residents and emergency personnel and then to everyone who wants to access West Maui, the television station reported.

Meanwhile, President Joe Biden said that Hawaii will get “whatever” it needs from the federal government and pledged to make a visit to Maui once recovery operations are complete.

“Whatever you need, you’re gonna get and that’ll get aid into the hands of people who desperately need it. Who have lost their loved ones, who have lost their homes,” Biden said. “My wife Jill and I are going to travel to Hawaii as soon as we can. I don’t want to get in the way. I’ve been to too many disaster areas. I want to be sure we don’t disrupt the ongoing recovery efforts.”

— Bob D’Angelo, Cox Media Group National Content Desk

Governor says death toll now at 99

Update 10:02 p.m. EDT Aug. 14: During a news conference on Monday, Hawaii Gov. Josh Green confirmed the death toll from the Maui wildfire has climbed to 99.

“The scale of destruction is incredible,” Green told reporters, adding the recovery will take time.

Officials added that about 400 of 750 power poles in West Maui have been damaged or destroyed, Hawaii News Now reported.

— Bob D’Angelo, Cox Media Group National Content Desk

Governor: ‘There are more fatalities that will come’

Update 12:50 p.m. EDT Aug. 14: Gov. Josh Green said he expects that crews will find 10 to 20 people dead each day over the next several days as officials continue to assess the damage caused by the fires that sparked last week on Maui.

“There are more fatalities that will come,” he told “CBS Mornings” in an interview that aired Monday. ”The fire was so hot that what we find is the tragic finding that you would imagine. ... It’s hard to recognize anybody, but they’re able to determine if someone did perish.”

The governor said that in Lahaina, officials were finding “nothing to see except full devastation.”

“The building are almost non-existent,” he said. “It was so hot that even metal contorted so that you can’t believe what the building even was.”

He said it was clear there would be no survivors in the area.

More than 2,000 people were initially believed missing amid the fire, though Green said that number had fallen to about 1,300 after temporary cellphone service in the area allowed residents to begin calling each other.

“Our hearts will break beyond repair perhaps if that means that many more dead. None of us think that, but we are prepared for many tragic stories,” the governor said. “(Search crews) will find 10 to 20 people per day probably until they finish, and it’s probably going to take 10 days. It’s impossible to guess, really.”

— Theresa Seiger, Cox Media Group National Content Desk

Death toll rises

Update 5:13 a.m. EDT Aug. 14: The death toll has risen to 96 in the fires that devastated the island of Maui, according to officials in Hawaii.

As of 9:45 p.m. local time, the Lahaina fire is 85% contained, emergency management officials said.

“This is the largest natural disaster we’ve ever experienced,” Hawaii Gov. Josh Green said at a Saturday night news conference. “It’s going to also be a natural disaster that’s going to take an incredible amount of time to recover from.”

— Debbie Lord, Cox Media Group National Content Desk

Officials give fire updates

Update 10:01 p.m. EDT Aug. 13: Officials in Hawaii gave an update about the Lahaina, Pulehu, and Upcountry Maui wildfires on Sunday.

According to a news release from the County of Maui, the Lahaina fire is 85% contained. The Upcountry/Kula fire is now at 60% containment, while the Pulehu/Kihei fire remains 100% contained.

According to the Maui Police Department, the number of fatalities remains at 93, the release stated.

— Bob D’Angelo, Cox Media Group National Content Desk

Original report: The County of Maui provided an update on the Lahaina, Pulehu, and Upcountry Maui wildfires on Facebook.

The Pulehu/Kīhei fire has been 100% contained and fire crews are continuing to put out flare-ups in the Lahaina and Upcountry Maui fires. “Containment indicates what percentage of the fire perimeter has been enclosed by a control line and reflects opportunities for the fire to spread beyond its original border into new areas,” officials say.

The county confirmed that 93 people have died and only two of the deceased have been identified. Their names have not yet been released due to pending next-of-kin notifications.

Maui Police Chief John Pelletier told The Associated Press that crews and cadaver dogs have so far only been able to cover 3% of the search area.

“We’ve got an area that we have to contain that is at least 5 square miles and it is full of our loved ones,” Pelletier said, according to the AP. He noted that the death toll is likely to rise but officials don’t know “the size of it yet.”

Federal emergency workers went through areas and marked ruins of houses with a bright orange X to say that it has been searched, according to the AP. If human remains were found, the X had an HR mark as well.

The identification process has been challenging, according to Pelletier, per the AP.

“We pick up the remains and they fall apart ... When we find our family and our friends, the remains that we’re finding is through a fire that melted metal,” Pellitier said, according to the AP.

“It will certainly be the worst natural disaster that Hawaii ever faced,” Gov. Josh Green said Saturday as he went through Front Street, according to the AP. “We can only wait and support those who are living. Our focus now is to reunite people when we can and get them housing and get them health care, and then turn to rebuilding.”

Hawaii reportedly has the latest vaunted integrated outdoor siren warning system in the world. It has about 400 alarms but according to Hawaii Emergency Management Agency spokesperson Adam Weintraub per CNN, they were not activated during the fires. Maui alone has 80 outdoor sirens. The point of these sirens is to alert residents and tourists of natural disasters like tsunamis and so forth but they failed to go off as the fires swept through the area.

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Hawaii fire: An attendee reacts during a Sunday church service held at Lahaina's Grace Baptist Church. (YUKI IWAMURA/AFP via Getty Images)