Sharjah 24 – AFP: At least 36 people have died after a fast-moving wildfire turned a historic Hawaiian town to ashes, officials said Wednesday, as visitors asked to leave the island of Maui found themselves stranded at the airport.
The fires began burning early Tuesday, scorching thousands of acres and putting homes, businesses and 35,000 lives at risk on Maui, the Hawaii Emergency Management Agency said in a statement.
Strong winds and dry conditions put much of the state under a fire warning on Wednesday, with more fires burning on Hawaii's Big Island, the state agency said.
"As the firefighting efforts continue, 36 total fatalities have been discovered today amid the active Lahaina fire," the Maui county government said in a statement.
US Coast Guard officers had pulled at least a dozen people from the water as emergency services were overwhelmed by a disaster that appeared to have erupted almost without warning.
More than 270 buildings have been damaged or destroyed in the seriously affected town of Lahaina, on the island's west coast, officials said earlier on Wednesday.
"Much of Lahaina on Maui has been destroyed and hundreds of local families have been displaced," said Governor Josh Green of the 12,000-resident historic town popular with tourists.
Video posted on social media showed blazes tearing through the heart of the beachfront town and sending up huge plumes of black smoke.
"With lives lost and properties decimated, we are grieving with each other during this inconsolable time," Mayor Richard Bissen said in a video posted to the County of Maui's official Facebook page.
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