Six dead in Hawaii wildfires as more than 2,000 seek refuge in evacuation centres

Fast-moving wildfires on the island of Maui in Hawaii have killed six people and overwhelmed some residents so suddenly that they were forced to take refuge in the Pacific Ocean late Tuesday.

The blazes intensified Tuesday and continued into Wednesday as gusty mountain winds were amplified by Hurricane Dora, which was moving across the Pacific hundreds of miles to the south.

Six people have been confirmed dead on the island of Maui, Richard T Bissen Jr, the mayor of Maui County, said at a news conference Wednesday morning. Search and rescue crews were looking for more people in the area.

More than 2,100 people were in evacuation shelters, Mr Bissen said.

On the western side of Maui, some residents fled by swimming into the ocean, where they were rescued by the US coast guard, Maui County officials said. Others escaped by car, driving past flames in the shadow of the West Maui Mountains.

The town of Lahaina, once the royal capital of Hawaii and home to a famed banyan tree, was believed to have been hit particularly hard hit by the fires, according to Hawaii News Now. Footage showed that several shops and restaurants on the town’s Front Street were damaged in the fire. Old Lahaina Luau, an oceanfront restaurant in the town, said in a Facebook post late Tuesday that it had lost electricity for 16 hours and had only minimal cell and internet service.

Roads into west Maui were closed to everyone except emergency workers Wednesday morning, officials said, effectively cutting off access from outside to some of Hawaii’s best-known resorts. In Lahaina, a town of about 12,000 people, all roads were closed, officials said.

Hawaii is better known for its tropical conditions and bouts of intense rain, but the islands have become increasingly prone to wildfire damage because of climate change. The island of Maui is the state’s driest at the moment, with much of west Maui facing moderate drought conditions, according to the US Drought Monitor. This year has not been especially dry when compared with drought data over the past two decades, however.

Dora, a Category 4 storm, remained more than 700 miles south of Honolulu on Wednesday and did not make landfall in Hawaii. Although the hurricane was not directly responsible for the conditions in the state, it has helped strengthen the winds, according to Robert Bohlin, a meteorologist in the weather service’s Honolulu office.

The fires in Hawaii and Maui counties had already burned hundreds of acres by Tuesday, Sylvia Luke, Hawaii’s acting governor, said in an emergency proclamation that activated the National Guard.

Several parts of Maui were under evacuation orders. Two evacuation shelters closed because of the encroaching fire, and people inside were sent to new locations, Maui County officials said.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times

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