Aerial footage of the deadly wildfires in Hawaii shows the terrifying extent of the damage, as authorities battle to get the situation under control.
Maui County officials confirmed in a statement that 55 people have died and thousands of residents have been displaced, as multiple fires continue to spread across the state's islands.
Lahaina, a beachside resort city on the island of Maui, first reported fires on Tuesday evening. Fueled by a dry summer and strong winds from passing Hurricane Dora, the fire quickly spread through dry brush, flattening homes and businesses. The reason the fires started hasn't yet been determined.
Footage form the area shows smoke rising from the devastated city. A post from Weather Nation on X, formerly Twitter, shows a harbor and building rooftops along the shoreline visibly charred. The land around the area is black in places after being scorched by the fires.
Aerial footage shows how flames burned all the way to the water in #Hawaii.
— WeatherNation (@WeatherNation) August 10, 2023
Sadly, 36 people have died in the fires. 14 people were rescued after jumping into the water to avoid the fires. #Brush Fires are still active & over 15k people remain evacuated pic.twitter.com/i60tfWfPLq
More shocking nighttime footage from Accuweather, posted on Thursday, offers a bird's-eye view of live fires from a plane traveling over Maui. While the exact location is unclear, the clip shows a built up area, possibly Lahaina, surrounded by a roaring wall of fire as buildings within it burn.
Airline passenger shares a birds-eye view of the wildfires that ravaged Maui. #Hawaii pic.twitter.com/Hpmh6KLAz0
— AccuWeather (@accuweather) August 10, 2023
Governor Josh Green delivered an update on Thursday afternoon, describing the fires as "likely the largest natural disaster in Hawaii state history."
He referenced the state's deadliest natural disaster, a 1960 tsunami, which killed 61 people on the Big Island. He said the death toll will likely rise further as search and rescue operations continue. The incident is the deadliest U.S. wildfire since the 2018 Camp Fire in California, which killed at least 85 people and destroyed the town of Paradise.
Referring to the death toll, he said: "I do not know what the final number is going to be. It's going to be horrible and tragic."
Speaking in an interview with CNN's Wolf Blitzer, Green described the scene of the fires as looking like "a bomb hit Lahaina. It looks like total devastation."
The wildfire that destroyed Lahaina is now 80 percent contained, according to Maui Fire Chief Brad Ventura, who confirmed authorities are still attempting to contain blazes across the island. The Pulehu fire, which is further east in Kihei, is now 70 percent contained. Another fire in the hills of Maui's central Upcountry is still being assessed.
