Follow live updates about wildfires that have devastated parts of Maui in Hawaii, killing dozens of people and destroying the historic town of Lahaina. The wildfires are the deadliest in the U.S. in more than a century. Videos showing downed power lines apparently sparking some of the early blazes have become key evidence in the search for a cause.
Criswell answered questions from reporters at the White House after she briefed President Joe Biden in the Oval Office. Biden spoke by telephone with Gov. Josh Green during their meeting, she said. “There’s still a lot of work to do, but overall, the campuses and classrooms are in good condition structurally, which is encouraging,” Hayashi said in a video update. “We know the recovery effort is still in the early stages, and we continue to grieve the many lives lost.”
The Bidens will meet Monday with survivors of the fires, as well as first responders and other government officials. They will “see firsthand the impacts of the wildfires and the devastating loss of life and land that has occurred on the island, as well as discuss the next steps in the recovery effort,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said in a statement Wednesday.
— Why did the fire cause so much destruction so quickly? The governor says the flames on Maui were fueled by dry grass and propelled by strong winds from a passing hurricane, and raced as fast as a mile every minute in one area “We will have, of course, our National Guard responsible on the side of the road so that no one goes into the impact zone,” where teams are still searching for fatalities following last week’s wildfires, Green said on ABC’s “Good Morning America.”
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services deployed a team of coroners, pathologists and technicians along with exam tables, X-ray units and other equipment to identify victims and process remains, said Jonathan Greene, the agency’s deputy assistant secretary for response. A century earlier, the 1918 Cloquet Fire broke out in drought-stricken northern Minnesota and raced through a number of rural communities, killing hundreds and destroying thousands of homes.
Guard members will offer support to the Hawaii Emergency Management Agency and local law enforcement agencies and help with command and control efforts, Pentagon spokeswoman Sabrina Singh said Tuesday.