As the death toll from wildfires in Hawaii rose to 93 as of the 12th, it remains the deadliest forest fire in the United States in 100 years. According to Reuters and the Associated Press, Lahaina County, Hawaii, said on its website that the number of deaths was counted at least 93 on the fifth day of the wildfire that hit the island of Maui.
Hawaii Governor Josh Green said at a press conference earlier this afternoon that the death toll “continues to rise” and “I hope everyone is prepared for it.”
As the death toll rises, the wildfires in Hawaii have surpassed previous ones in the United States, making them the worst wildfires in more than 100 years, the Associated Press reported. In the United States, 85 people died in 2018 when wildfires spread in the northern California town of Paradise, the worst case in recent years. In 1918, wildfires in Carleton County and elsewhere in northern Minnesota burned thousands of homes and killed 453 people.
Even limited to Hawaii, the wildfires are the worst in decades, surpassing the 1960 tsunami that killed 61 people. Authorities began rescue and retrieval of bodies by putting search teams and detection dogs in the Lahaina area.
According to the Associated Press, an orange ‘X’ mark is left where the search team has been to every burnt-down house site, and ‘HR’ (human remains), which means remains, is left if there are traces of a person’s death. However, as the search is still in its infancy, the death toll is expected to rise significantly.
Maui County Police Commissioner John Peletier said the dogs used to locate the victims had only been able to search 3% of the area targeted. Director Pelletier also said, “Among the dead, two have been identified as of today,” and said that the search and identification work was not easy.
On the island of Maui, the forest fire that started on the 8th has spread uncontrollably to the beach, and damage continues to this day. According to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), a total of 2,170 acres (8.78 km2) were burned in the Lahaina area, and more than 2,200 buildings, including homes, were destroyed.
Gov. Green said property damage was close to $6 billion. In West Maui alone, 2,200 structures were destroyed or damaged, 86% of which were residential.
“We’ve been experiencing wildfires for decades, but this is the first time we’ve experienced wildfires in the context of global warming and a hurricane,” Green said.
“We will rebuild Hawaii together, but it will take time,” Green said.