Deadly wildfires burning across Maui prompt evacuations

Our live coverage of the wildfires in Maui has moved.

Wildfires seen near Kihei as high winds in Maui are causing multiple fires across the island, in Kahului, Hawaii, on August 9, 2023.

Winds will decrease across Hawaii on Thursday as the weather pattern that created the hurricane-force winds eases.

Hurricane Dora continues to move farther away from the islands. Due to the increasing distance, winds had already decreased slightly on Wednesday with gusts of 50 mph.

The high pressure to the northwest of the state will continue to produce moderate to locally breezy trade winds across the region Wednesday night, and a weakening in this pattern will allow the winds to decrease to more average speeds on Thursday.?

The forecast for west Maui Wednesday evening calls for northeast winds of 25 to 30 mph, decreasing to 15 to 30 mph after midnight. Winds are forecast to be 15 to 25 mph on Thursday and 10 to 20 mph Thursday night.

The red flag warning and wind advisory are no longer in effect.

More context: Ian Morrison, a National Weather Service meteorologist in Honolulu, told CNN Wednesday “very little rain” is expected Thursday for Maui and the Big Island.

Morrison cautioned that although the latest wind conditions will assist the firefighters, “dropping winds doesn’t mean the fires will go away.”

The death toll in Maui County is now 36, according to a press release from the county.

An aerial view of damaged areas amidst wildfires in Maui, Hawaii, on August 9, 2023, in this screenshot taken from a social media video.

As fires devastate large swaths of Maui, Hawaii Lt. Governor Sylvia Luke said Wednesday that “the road to recovery will be long.”

The blazes have destroyed hundreds of structures in Maui, including homes and businesses, according to officials. Thousands of residents have been displaced on the island, officials said. ?

“It’s going to take years,” she added.

More than 11,000 people were flown out of Maui on Wednesday, Hawaii Department of Transportation Director Ed Sniffen?said at a news conference.

As fires rage across Maui on Wednesday, thousands of travelers scrambled to evacuate and officials urged nonresidents to leave the island as quickly as possible.

Still, some airplanes leaving Maui Wednesday had empty seats as major highway closures made getting to the airport difficult for some, Sniffen said, noting the roads are now mostly reopened.

In an effort to help travelers leave, Maui County organized buses to take more than 400 people to the airport Wednesday, he said. Airlines have also assisted by flying in bigger planes, lowering rates and adding extra routes.

More than 600 people will stay overnight at Kahului Airport as they await early morning flights, according to Sniffen.

About 1,500 people are expected to fly out of the airport tomorrow, he noted.

An aerial view shows damage along the coast of Lahaina in the aftermath of wildfires in Maui, Hawaii, on August 9, 2023 in this screen grab obtained from social media video.

Military helicopters dropped about 150,000 gallons of water in Maui County on Wednesday as they aided in fire suppression efforts, Hawaii Department of Defense Adjutant General Kenneth S. Hara said in a news conference Wednesday night.

State department crews are assisting in efforts to restore communications across the island – which has seen widespread cellular outages – and distribute water, he said.

Hara said he anticipates federal assistance will be needed for recovery efforts including debris clearance and temporary housing.

Several military helicopters have been deployed to Hawaii’s Big Island and Maui to provide firefighting and search and rescue support, the US military’s Indo-Pacific unified combatant command said in a statement Wednesday.

The command’s forces are also ready to assist if requested by the state of Hawaii or the Hawaii National Guard, it said.

As wildfires ripped through Maui Tuesday, the US Coast Guard was deployed to Lahaina to rescue 14 people who fled into the water to escape the advancing fire and smoke, the agency said in a Wednesday update.

The Coast Guard had previously said 12 people were rescued.

The survivors, who were picked up on a 45-foot boat, are in stable condition, the agency said in a news release.

The rescue boat and Coast Guard crew remained on the scene near Lahaina Wednesday, it said.

BEFORE - A satellite image shows an overview of Lahaina, Maui County, in Hawaii on June 25, 2023.

AFTER - A satellite image shows an overview of wildfires in Lahaina, Maui County, in Hawaii on August 9, 2023.

A number of significant historical sites in Maui’s tourist hub of Lahaina have been destroyed by fires, according to a CNN analysis of Maxar Technologies satellite imagery.

Several buildings along Lahaina’s historic Front Street have been impacted, according to the satellite imagery, which was taken at 11:03 a.m. local time Wednesday.

Among the losses is a towering banyan tree – one of the largest in the US – which was imported to the island from India in 1873, according to the Hawaii Tourism Authority. There appears to be no vegetation on the tree when compared to earlier images.

The Lahaina Heritage Museum, housed in a courthouse just west of the tree, has been burned so badly that the roof has collapsed and only its walls remain, the images show.

The Baldwin Home Museum – an 1830s-era house believed to be the oldest home on the island – has been reduced to ash.?Lahaina Restoration Foundation executive director Theo Morrison confirmed to CNN earlier Wednesday that the house had been burnt.

Further north, the Wo Hing Temple Museum has also been destroyed. The two-story structure was built in 1912 to be a temple and social hall for the island’s Chinese immigrant community.

Kamuela Kawaakoa, Iiulia Yasso, and their son Kama, all of Lahaina, rest at an evacuation shelter in Wailuku, Hawaii, on Wednesday, August 9, 2023.

While shelter space for an emergency response to the raging wildfires in Maui is available for a just a few days, “there’s not enough shelter for long-term living,” according to Hawaii Gov. Josh Green.

He told CNN’s Sara Sidner Wednesday that individuals should visit the island another time, noting that residents are struggling to recover from the unprecedented fires.

Several thousand people will need housing, he estimated.

People wait on the side of the road to return to west Maui after wildfires driven by high winds were believed to have destroyed a large part of the historic town of Lahaina, in Kahului, Hawaii, on August 9, 2023.

Officials are asking visitors who can to leave Lahaina and Maui as soon as possible.

The County noted that seats were available on outgoing flights.??

According to the news release, “on Wednesday afternoon, the Transportation Security Administration was reporting that seats are available on outgoing flights at Kahului Airport. Travelers need to call airlines to make reservations.”

Power in west Maui remains out and there is still no landline or cellphone service.??

Firefighters are continuing to battle the fire that “burned multiple structures and brush in Lahaina, as well as fires in the Pulehu/Kīhei and Upcountry areas.”

There is no change in containment levels for the fires burning in Lahaina, Pulehu and Upcountry, the county noted.?

Hawaii is seeking a presidential emergency declaration from President Joe Biden, Gov. Josh Green told CNN’s Sara Sidner Wednesday evening.

The governor said he’s asked for resources from the Federal Emergency Management Agency along with “additional firefighter resources, which the state’s already authorized, and we’ve declared an emergency here as has Maui County.”

“Next, though, will come the presidential order which is for a major disaster, and that’s based on how much structural damage has occurred,” Green said, adding he expects “billions of dollars of structural damage to be determined.”

More than 271?structures?have been?impacted?in Lahaina, Maui, Hawaii, following a sprawling wildfire,?according to?a news release?from Maui County Wednesday.??

There are no significant changes reported in the Lahaina, Upcountry and?Pūlehu?fires?and?no new evacuations, the county said.?

About 100 Maui firefighters “have been on duty around the clock”?and are currently addressing spot fires around Lahaina,?the county said, and the Maui Fire Department requested?an?additional?20 firefighters from Honolulu and an incident management team.

Three?helicopters from the US?Coast Guard and US Navy?conducted search and rescue efforts along the west Maui coastline, and a federal team arrived Wednesday to help in search efforts as well, the release said.

Officials in Hawaii are set to hold a news conference at 3 a.m. ET (9 p.m. local time), according to two staff members with the Hawaii Lieutenant Governor’s Office.?

Daniel Sullivan appears on CNN on Wednesday, August 9.

Resident Daniel Sullivan described the scene as “apocalyptic” as fires surrounded his neighborhood in Maui.

With his kids downstairs in his home, he went to the roof and watched flames get “closer and closer – and we had no way to get out because the roads were blocked.”

His home survived but he said many friends had lost theirs in the wildfires that erupted overnight on Maui. “The island has been decimated,” he told CNN’s Kaitlin Collins.

Maui Memorial Medical Center is treating?five people, including two people with “critical injuries,”?for “burn, smoke inhalation, and other fire-related injuries” as a result of the fires on the island,?the center?said in a news release Wednesday.??

“Additionally, since last night, seven patients have been transferred to Oahu for specialty services, including some fire-related injuries. All other patients have been treated and released,” the statement said.

The health system is prepared “to activate a surge plan should the demand for medical services spike,”?and is working with other health systems nearby “to ensure the?timely?treatment of care,” the center added.????

Two new brush fires have erupted on Hawaii Island as officials work to extinguish the ongoing deadly wildfires impacting the state, according to a post from Hawaii County Mayor Mitch Roth.

Emergency crews are responding to the new fires swiftly, Roth said on Facebook.

No other details were provided about the fires but the post said further updates on the new fires would be forthcoming.

Dustin Kaleiopu appears on CNN on Wednesday, August 9.

Maui resident Dustin Kaleiopu recalled how his father returned to their family home Wednesday to find it burned to the ground.

He assumed “everybody had died in the fire,” Kaleiopu told CNN’s Erin Burnett.

When Kaleiopu arrived at his home, he said, it was windy at the time with a “little bit of smoke but nothing major going on.”

At this time, Kaleiopu’s brother drove two blocks from the home and saw that his office was on fire.?

“Then the smoke started getting thicker and blacker, and the condominium across the street from my house looked like it had started to catch fire as well,” he said. “I told my grandpa that we needed to go.”?

He compared the wildfire to a fire from five years ago – when the fire department was at their door asking them to evacuate. This time there was “no warning at all.”

The street was “burned to the ground” when Kaleiopu’s father drove by an hour later,

Kaleiopu’s brother reunited with their dad after catching sight of his father in the traffic evacuating town.

“When my dad realized that it was my brother, he completely lost it,” Kaleiopu said. “Because he had assumed that everybody had died in the fire just by how drastic things had been when he got there after being at work all day.”

Hawaii experienced its most intense winds Tuesday, with gusts up to 60-80 mph, according to Ian Morrison, a National Weather Service meteorologist in Honolulu.

The winds Wednesday “dropped down a notch” and the gusts are up to 50 mph, Morrison said in a phone interview with CNN.

A wind advisory and red flag warnings will remain in effect until around 6 p.m. local (12 a.m. ET).?

Morrison said the winds will ease over the next 24 hours and return to typical Hawaii trade winds with 10-20 mph sustained winds with gusts to 30 mph by Friday.

But he cautioned that “dropping winds doesn’t mean the fires will go away” although it will assist the firefighters.

People evacuated from the fires take refuge in a an emergency shelter.

More than 2,100 people were housed between four emergency shelters in Maui, Hawaii, the island mayor’s communications department said in?a statement?Wednesday.

While fire departments are unable to accept donations for shelters, “non-perishible food, bottled water, hygiene items and blankets are being accepted” at the?War Memorial Complex, the largest sports and recreation facility in the Maui Parks system, between 8am and 6pm, the statement says.

As of Wednesday evening, firefighters continue to combat fires in?Lahaina, Pulehu and Upcountry “that were fueled by strong winds from Hurricane Dora as it passed well south of the Hawaiian islands,” the statement says.

Devastating wildfires in the Hawaiian Islands – coupled with vast communication gaps created by the interruption of services – have left many travelers in limbo as they struggle to leave the especially hard-hit island of Maui or reschedule imminent travel plans.

State officials were working with hotels and a local airline to try to evacuate tourists in Maui to another island, Hawaii Lt. Gov. Sylvia Luke told CNN on Wednesday morning. But severed communications have hobbled efforts to reach everyone.

Maui’s Kahului Airport (OGG) is open, the Hawaii Department of Transportation posted on social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter. The HDOT urged patience at the airport. and also provided details?on reaching the airport via a bypass.

Nonessential inbound travel to Maui is strongly discouraged, Ed Sniffen, director of the Hawaii State Department of Transportation, said Wednesday at a news conference.

Travel adviser Jim Bendt said Pique Travel Design is advising clients traveling to Maui in the next week to reschedule their trips to “help ease the burden on local infrastructure.”

Pique Travel will be working with its partners on the island to waive or minimize cancellation and change fees, he said.

Hawaiian Airlines,?Alaska Airlines,?American Airlines,?Delta Air Lines,?Southwest Airlines?and?United Airlines?all are offering travel waivers for travel to Maui allowing passengers to change plans without penalty.

Bendt said travelers with plans to visit islands other than Maui won’t need to change their plans.

As for what’s next for travel to Maui, it’s a wait-and-see situation.

“Natural disasters are, by nature, quick-moving. If you have a trip to Maui a few?weeks from now, your best bet, for now, is to wait and see if the fires get contained,” said Scott Keyes, founder of travel site?Going.com.

Keyes said that “there’s no added benefit to canceling a trip a few weeks in advance versus a few days in advance.”

Read more:

Animal shelters in Maui are overflowing as many animals have been displaced during the wildfires.

The Maui Humane Society has been overwhelmed with the number of animals that have arrived at the shelter, with some cages doubled up with dogs, Paige Daniels, a resident of Makawao, told CNN.

Daniels went to the shelter to foster a dog on Wednesday afternoon and said many other residents were doing the same.

Daniels isn’t entirely sure how long they will be fostering the dog they picked up, named Kumo, as the wildfires continue to burn. Despite the sun shining in the area, the energy on the entire island is somber, Daniels explained.

The?humane society is asking any residents?that can help to foster animals, drop off any supplies that they can or donate if they’re able to.

Crews with Hawaiian Electric are asking people to be patient as crews work to restore power to residents affected in West Maui and Upcountry.

“We are all hands on deck in supporting and responding to Maui communities affected by the outages, active wildfires, and sustained high wind damage,” spokesperson Shayna Decken said in a statement Wednesday. “Our focus right now is the safety of our communities, customers, and workforce and prioritizing power restoration to areas that our crews can safely access.”

Approximately 12,400 customers remain in the dark in West Maui and crews are assessing the damage from the wildfire and working to repair multiple downed poles and power lines in various areas.??

Additional help is coming in from Oahu to assist with the “massive restoration efforts.”

Smoke and flames rise in Lahaina,?Hawaii, on Wednesday, August 9.

At least six people have been killed by wildfires in Hawaii, according to Maui County Mayor Richard Bissen Jr.

Search and rescue efforts are still ongoing, he said, warning that the number of people killed could go up as more information becomes available.

At least six other people were injured, Bissen said. Three of those were burn-related, he said. A firefighter was also taken to the hospital and treated for smoke inhalation.

Many structures have been destroyed, several of them burnt “to the ground,” Bissen said.

It is impossible to know the extent of the damage caused by wildfires in Hawaii because the flames continue to make their way across parts of the Big Island and Maui, Bissen said.

The main focus of officials and first responders is to “save lives and preserve lives,” he said. The secondary focus is to try to save property —?both objectives, fire departments are working very hard to do. They are working 24-hour shifts battling the blazes, he said.

As of this morning, most of the fires on Maui are not yet contained, Bissen said.

Here are the latest developments:

Biden?speaks in Belen, New Mexico, on Wednesday, August 9, 2023.

President Joe Biden shared his condolences and detailed ongoing federal support efforts for Hawaiians amid raging wildfires that have killed at least six people and have prompted thousands of residents to shelter.

Biden said he has ordered federal assets to assist with wildfire response, pointing to the Hawaiian National Guard that’s mobilizing Chinook helicopters “to help with fire suppression and search and rescue on the Island of Maui” as well as response and rescue from the US Coast Guard and Navy fleets. Marines, he added, “are providing Black Hawk Helicopters to fight the fires on the Big Island.”

And as local officials are discouraging nonessential travel to Maui, Biden noted “the Department of Transportation is working with commercial airlines to evacuate tourists from Maui, and the Department of the Interior and the United States Department of Agriculture stand ready to support post fire recovery efforts.”

Biden urged residents to “follow evacuation orders, listen to the instructions of first responders and officials, and stay alert.”

The president has not yet issued a disaster declaration.

Hawaii Gov. Josh Green said earlier Wednesday he expects to submit a request for a presidential disaster declaration “in the next 36 to 48 hours.” Green said the White House “has been incredibly supportive.”

Hawaii Lt. Gov. Sylvia Luke

Wildfires in Maui are devastating, Hawaii Lt. Gov. Sylvia Luke said.

“It’s been so shocking and?devastating.?Not just for Maui, but the?entire Hawaii community,” Luke said.

She noted that so far six lives have been lost and “this is just the beginning, initial assessment.”

Officials are still assessing property damage and other potential losses she said.

Luke noted that power outages, loss of cell service and overall disruptions hindered search and rescue efforts.

“The wildfires were exacerbated by the gusts of?winds that reached anywhere?between 70 to 80 miles per?hour.?So quickly, these flames reached?other neighborhoods.?They jumped highways and freeways and destroyed people’s homes,” she said

Cell services were impacted and calls to 911 were disrupted, she said.

Luke also talked about the difficulties of being an island state, which impacted response time.

“We can’t just drive to?the next island, next town and assist,” she said. Luke added that because of the high winds, it was difficult to fly out support. “We couldn’t fly them from one?island to the next and that impeded and that led to?even more slower response,” she said.

Luke said that officials will take a closer look at that issue. “The fact that?people’s lives were lost.?Properties were lost.?I mean people’s homes were damaged.?You know, this is just a terrible day.”

Crews are working to maintain multiple brushfires taking place in Hawaii County on the Big Island.

The Akoni Pule Highway fire is about 60% contained as of Wednesday morning local time, according to an?update from the Hawai’i Fire Department. It continues to remain a threat to structures in the area.

Guests are sheltered in place at the Mauna Kea Resort, the department says, as multiple more fires burn on the Mauna Kea Beach area. Crews are on scene to assist and are working to contain the fires.

Emergency officials in California are monitoring the situation and are in contact with emergency personnel in the state as well.

Hawaii County is located on the Big Island and is separate from the fire that is burning in Maui, which is also still burning.

Mark and Michele Numbers-Stefl moved to Maui almost 24 years ago after falling in love with the island while on a vacation.?

Now they have been uprooted for the second time in five years by wildfires.

Five years ago, the couple’s home was burnt to the ground by a quick-moving fire fanned by winds associated with Hurricane Lane. This time, based on television footage they’ve seen, the two-story yellow house they rebuilt may be the only one standing in their neighborhood.

Stefl said they evacuated with two of their four pets to a friend’s house. They had no choice but to leave behind their other cat and dog, he said.

About a quarter of a mile from their house, a neighbor started up a generator after many residents had lost power due to strong winds fanned by Hurricane Dora. That generator caught fire, he said, and was put out by firefighters before the fire kicked back up again.

His wife was worried. He told her, “Relax, it’s gonna be OK” — but before he knew it, the fire was about 25 yards from his house.

Stefl and his wife grabbed the two animals and pulled out of their garage in a cloud of black smoke as the wind howled around them. They saw flames on both sides of the house. He said they thought they were going to die.

“I’m literally thankful just to be alive right now,” Stefl said.

The wildfires that ripped through Hawaii on Tuesday and Wednesday are “unnerving,” and comparable to the landscape-altering wildfires that are common in the West, said Erica Fleishman, director of the Oregon?Climate?Change Research Institute at Oregon State University.?

But Fleishman told CNN she wouldn’t be surprised “if wildfires in many parts of the world that are not accustomed to them become more common over time, or become larger or spread more rapidly.”

That’s because the human-caused?climate?crisis has exacerbated the hot and dry conditions that allow wildfires to ignite and grow in many parts of the planet.

Although she said it’s hard to say that the?climate?crisis is linked to this particular event without a thorough analysis, it is possible to break down the conditions that primed the environment for these wildfires to occur.

Temperatures are increasing worldwide, including in Hawaii, while?drought?is getting more intense and lasting longer. As a result, Fleishman said the availability of water has not only decreased for people, but also plants that require more water to thrive.?

And in parts of Hawaii, there have been drastic changes in plant species.

A?2018 report?from the Hawaii Wildfire Management Organization found that humans have introduced nonnative, fire-prone grasses and shrubs to the islands, which has allowed wildfire threat to increase exponentially. Nonnative species, which are critical fire ignitions, now cover nearly a quarter of Hawaii’s total land area.

Wind patterns are another contributing factor that may have some fingerprints of?climate?change, Fleishman said. High winds, such as the ones that helped fan the flames in Maui, are more likely going to dry out vegetation, air and soil, which could spark wildfires.

While it is uncommon for fires this size to ignite in places like Hawaii, Fleishman said she is hopeful that these places will have some time to prepare for a hotter and drier future that is prime for far more intense wildfires.

Read more.

The president of a Hawaiian helicopter company said several of his co-workers lost their homes and other partners lost their businesses in the wildfires moving over several parts of the islands.

“It is absolutely tragic, devastating,” said Quentin Koch, the president of Blue Hawaiian Helicopters. “Tears just keep pouring and pouring from people’s faces as we kind of work through the morning and all wake up and realize what we have in front of us,” he added.

Blue Hawaiian Helicopters canceled its tourism operations and are now partnering with the state and are “focusing and taking care of the people that at need.” Koch said helicopters have the unique ability to land in different places like golf courses or smaller airports.

Speaking of the devastation, Koch said, “Seeing it from the air and seeing the pictures just doesn’t do it justice.”

He noted that not being able to get a hold of some of his co-workers has been difficult, and “you can’t stop thinking about it.”

“We actually have a friend that’s a runner, has gone through in the areas that you are able to access, gone and knock on doors and got verification that people are OK, but the fires are still going, the winds are still there,” he said. Officials and other residents have said there is still no service in many places, leaving people to find things out by word of mouth.

Maui businessman Kimo Falconer, who owns a 500-acre coffee farm, said he’s stranded at home as the wildfires rage.

Falconer told CNN that at 3 a.m. he tried to get to his factory, but was unable to do so because of the damage caused by wildfires.

“I was trying to get down to our?processing plant, I still have?not been able to get down?there,” he said and described a scene of confusion.

“We watched the fire move all day?yesterday, into town and it went?north, it went south to every single?area,” he said.

He said he is attempting to locate personnel that were at the factory last night.

“I know they were?in the middle of fighting this?thing last night, that’s the?last I’ve heard from them,” he said.

Falconer said that if he tries to leave his home, police officers will escort him “out of here.”

He’s relying on friends and neighbors to give him the information he needs.

The Honolulu Fire Department will send a team to Maui today to assist in the fire fight, according to Scott Humber, communications director with the Honolulu mayor’s office.

Humber told CNN that 20 to 25 firefighters may be deployed to help relieve some Maui firefighters who have been fighting the fires for the last 24 hours.?

Humber added there have been some burn victims flown to Straub Hospital.??

The State is also looking to possibly put some of the evacuees at the convention center in Honolulu, which they are preparing now, Humber said.???

Smoke billows as wildfires driven by high winds destroy a large part of the historic town of Lahaina, in Kahului, on Wednesday.

Lahaina Town is a historic whaling village and tourism hotspot in Maui, Hawaii. Now, it is being ravaged by a devastating wildfire that has incinerated multiple structures, according to officials.

It is the largest community in West Maui and is located approximately 25 miles from the Kahului Airport.?

Front Street, which one resident told CNN was almost completely destroyed by the fire, is ranked as one of the “Top Ten Greatest Streets” by the American Planning Association.

Here’s what else to know about the community.

History:

Tourism:

Population:

Correction: An earlier version of this post gave the incorrect year for the unveiling of the Lahaina lighthouse. It was unveiled in 1840.

Help is desperately needed in Hawaii as devastating, fast-moving wildfires burn out of control across the Big Island and Maui.

Strong winds associated with Hurricane Dora have fanned the flames, knocking out local communication and destroying homes and historic buildings, including the popular Maui tourist destination Lahaina town.

Maui hospitals are overwhelmed with patients suffering burns and smoke inhalation. Thousands have evacuated or been displaced. Search and rescue efforts are still ongoing, but local officials warn that the death toll could rise as more information becomes available.

Click?here?to support relief efforts. Impact Your World will continue to monitor the situation and provide updates with more ways to help.

Smoke blows across the slope of Haleakala volcano in Maui on Tuesday.

While officials have not officially begun investigating the cause of the fires in Maui, the area had been under fire risk, according to Maj. Gen. Kenneth S. Hara, the Adjutant General for the State of Hawaii, Department of Defense.

The National Weather Service had issued a red flag warning, which means warm temperatures, low humidity, strong winds and increased fire danger, according to the weather agency.

The warning is still in effect, he added.

As more resources flood into Hawaii to fight raging wildfires and assist affected communities, state officials are monitoring possible riots.

With news of more devastation coming out of Maui on Wednesday morning local time, Luke also thanked officials for taking care of the community.

“This is really a time for us to really pull together. That’s what Hawaii does best,” she said, asking for those who can donate or help to reach out to local officials.

Fire damage is seen in Maui on Wednesday morning.

A pilot, that flew a helicopter over Maui Wednesday afternoon to see the destruction from the wildfires, compared the scene to an area that was bombed during war.

Richie Olsten, director of operations for Air Maui Helicopters, told CNN’s Jake Tapper that what he saw was heartbreaking.

He and others on the helicopter were moved to tears with the destruction they saw on the island, Olsten said.

There were hundreds of homes destroyed, complete areas burned to the ground, including a harbor and historic buildings that cannot be replaced.

American and United airlines are canceling flights to Maui’s Kahului Airport due to wildfires.

“Given the current situation, all flights to OGG are canceled for today,” American spokesperson Curtis Blessing told CNN. “We are still operating the majority of flights out of OGG today to ensure customers evacuating OGG are able to do so.”

United Airlines also said it is canceling all inbound flights to the airport. The airline said planes will fly empty to Maui and will fly passengers back to the mainland.?

“Our teams are?monitoring the situation closely and adjusting our schedule so we can keep serving our customers under difficult conditions. We’re emphasizing safety as always and checking on the welfare of our employees on Maui,” United told CNN.

FlightAware data shows 7% of all inbound flights to Kahului have been canceled Wednesday.??

Hawaiian Airlines said it is operating its full flight schedule in and out of Maui and has added flights between Honolulu and Kahului on Wednesday.

The airline said the additional flights are “to accommodate departures out of Maui, as well as support emergency response efforts.”

“We are also offering reduced $19 fares out of Maui to facilitate urgent travel needs,” the airline said in a?statement.

“We are working closely with the state of Hawai?i to support the transportation of first responders and supplies and help with the overall emergency response as best as we can,” the statement said.

Earlier, Hawaii state officials discouraged nonessential travel to the island.?

Destroyed buildings smolder after wildfires fanned by the winds of a distant hurricane devastated Maui's city of Lahaina on Wednesday.?

As of this morning, most of the fires on Maui are not yet contained, Mayor Richard Bissen Jr. said.

He said that the Kula fire, “which is about 1,100 acres,” has still not been contained, while the Lahaina fire continues to have flare-ups and is not yet under control.

Bissen also said that there is a fire in Kihei as well.

The Hawaii military is providing two Blackhawk helicopters to help fight the wildfires that are burning in several parts of the Big Island and Maui.

Maj. Gen. Kenneth S. Hara, the Adjutant General of the Hawaii State Department of Defense, said these helicopters have water buckets that hold thousands of gallons of water to help suppress the fires

Additionally, another helicopter with a smaller water bucket is also being deployed and another is on standby if it is needed, Hara said.

The Hawaii National Guard dispatched two helicopters to Maui, according to Hara. One has already landed and is in coordination with the fire department, he said.

A special unit that is trained in search and rescue operations is also being sent to Maui, Hara said.

Western Maui 911 services remain “very limited” as wildfires impact cell service in the area, according to Mahina Martin, chief spokesperson for Maui County.

Lt. Gov. Sylvia Luke said officials have been utilizing satellites to communicate with providers on the west side of Maui to restore power to the area.

Maui County Mayor Richard Bissen Jr. said strong winds have downed 29 utility poles and that fiber optic cables have been affected.

Some context: It could take days or even weeks to get the networks back up and running. Although?strong winds?can sometimes threaten cell towers, most are strong enough to handle the worst that even a Category 5 hurricane can bring. Fire, however, complicates the issue.

If a tower collapses, cell networks could take months to restore. But if carriers are able and prepared to do restorations with mobile backup units, it could bring limited service back within hours, O’Donnell said. Wireless carriers often bring in COWs (Cells On Wheels), COLTs (Cells On Light Trucks), and GOaTs (Generators on Trailers) in emergencies to?provide backup service?when cell towers go down.

Smoke and wind is seen in Maui on Wednesday.

It is impossible to know the extent of the damage caused by wildfires in Hawaii because the flames continue to make their way across parts of the Big Island and Maui, a local official said.

“It’s impossible to know that number right now without having done an assessment,” Maui County Mayor Richard Bissen Jr. said.

The main focus of officials and first responders is to “save lives and preserve lives,” he said. The secondary focus is to try to save property —?both objectives, fire departments are working very hard to do. They are working 24-hour shifts battling the blazes, he said.

State leaders have been in communication with the White House and the Federal Emergency Management Agency, according to Lt. Gov. Sylvia Luke. FEMA will be the agency helping Hawaii assess the damage when appropriate, she said.

“This is not going to be a short journey. It’s going to take weeks and maybe months to assess the full damage,” Luke said.

Nonessential travel to Maui is strongly discouraged as unprecedented wildfires affect the area, according to Ed Sniffen, director of the Hawaii State Department of Transportation.

Approximately 2,000 people stayed overnight at the airport in Maui, Sniffen said Wednesday at a news conference.

He noted that another 4,000 visitors want to leave the island from the west side.

Airports in Maui are still “operating efficiently,” he said, and the Kahekili Highway is open so that people can get into town and to the airport area.

He said information on road closures will continue to be updated on the Hawaii State Department of Transportation website.

The number of businesses impacted by the wildfires in Maui, Hawaii, is going to be quite high, Mayor Richard Bissen Jr. said.

He said that power is still out in the Lahaina area, approximately 30 poles were down.

“So, we have not yet been able to?restore that to get a better?idea … the fire is still going?on,” the mayor said.

More than 2,000 people are now in shelters in Maui,?Mayor Richard?Bissen Jr. said during a news briefing Wednesday.

“We have over 2,100 people in shelters. Within those shelters, I?mentioned to you — and several that?are unaccounted for in the sense?that they are in their cars and did not come into the actual?shelter,” he said.

At least six people have been killed by wildfires in Hawaii, according to Maui County Mayor Richard Bissen Jr.

Search and rescue efforts are still ongoing, he said, warning that the number of people killed could go up as more information becomes available.

At least six other people were injured, Bissen said. Three of those were burn-related, he said. A firefighter was also taken to the hospital and treated for smoke inhalation.

Many structures have been destroyed, several of them burnt “to the ground,” Bissen said.

Tourists are being discouraged from going to Maui, Hawaii, amid raging wildfires, Lt. Gov. Sylvia Luke said during a news briefing Wednesday.

Luke said that in certain parts of the island, there are shelters that are overrun.

“We have resources that are?being taxed,” she said.

Hawaii Lt. Gov. Sylvia Luke speaks at a press conference on Wednesday.

Hawaii was preparing for the impacts of Hurricane Dora, but officials never anticipated that it would lead to devastating wildfires.

Lt. Gov. Sylvia Luke said the state was preparing for rain and floods from the storm, but “we never anticipated in this?state that a hurricane, which?did not make impact on our?islands, will cause this type of?wildfires,” she said.

The fires so far have destroyed communities, businesses and homes, Luke said at a news conference Wednesday.

She sent her sympathy and prayers to the people impacted.

Thousands of people in Maui, Hawaii, are without cell service as the?wildfires?continue to?rage out of control?on the island, preventing people from calling emergency services or updating loved ones about their status, according to authorities.

It could take days or even weeks to get the networks back up and running.

“911 is down. Cell service is down. Phone service is down,” Hawaii Lt. Gov. Sylvia Luke told CNN on Wednesday morning.

Although?strong winds?can sometimes threaten cell towers, most are strong enough to handle the worst that even a Category 5 hurricane can bring. Fire, however, complicates the issue.

If a tower collapses, cell networks could take months to restore. But if carriers are able and prepared to do restorations with mobile backup units, it could bring limited service back within hours, O’Donnell said.

Wireless carriers often bring in COWs (Cells On Wheels), COLTs (Cells On Light Trucks), and GOaTs (Generators on Trailers) in emergencies to?provide backup service?when cell towers go down.

Power outages are also a threat to cell phone towers. The Maui disaster has already wiped out power to at least 14,000 homes and businesses in the area, according to PowerOutage.us. Many towers have backup power generators, but they have limited capacity to keep towers running.

Cell towers have backup technology built in, but this is typically done through optical fiber cables or microwave (wireless) links, according to Dimitris Mavrakis, senior researcher at ABI Research. However, if something extraordinary happens, such as interaction with rampant fires, these links may experience “catastrophic failures and leave cells without a connection to the rest of the world.”

High call volume can also impact the system: And, in an emergency, a spike in call volume can overload the system — even if people are able to get reception.

“Even cells that have a good service may experience outages due to the sheer volume of communication happening at once,” Mavrakis said. “Everyone in these areas may be trying to contact relatives or the authorities at once, saturating the network and causing an outage. This is easier to correct though and network operators may put in place additional measures to render them operational quickly.”

A T-Mobile spokesperson said the company is monitoring the situation and assessing the fire’s impact on its equipment in the area.

Verizon and AT&T did not immediately respond to CNN’s requests for comment.

Read more.

The Baldwin House, a historic building and the oldest house on Maui, is among the structures that burned in the wildfire that swept through the town of Lahaina, a museum official said.?

The?Lahaina Restoration Foundation?manages numerous museums and historic sites in Lahaina Town, an area devastated by wildfire.?

Executive Director Theo Morrison, told CNN he is currently trying to account for all employees, but those efforts are hampered because cell service is still down in the area.

The status of the other historic sites like the Wing Ho Museum and Old Lahaina Courthouse remains unclear at this time.

The Baldwin House, according to its website, was built between 1834-35 and was known at the time as the “missionary compound.”

An aerial view of fire damage in Hawaii on Wednesday.

The wildfires in Maui spread so quickly, many people did not have time to prepare, according to a harrowing account from a resident who witnessed the moments the fire swept through her town.

Claire Kent said her home in Lahaina was burned down in the fast-moving inferno.

“It happened so fast,” she said, describing how the day started like any other. Kent said she was off work because of high winds from Hurricane Dora. She works on a boat in the harbor and all the trips were canceled due to the weather.

“I heard the first explosions of the gas stations exploding, and?then I saw the black smoke a?couple streets away, and within?half an hour, we were out the?door,” Kent said. “I was at a friend’s?house. I didn’t even go home, I didn’t have?anything with me.”

She said within an hour, the fires had moved all the way to the end of the neighborhood. That’s when she realized they weren’t going to be able to go back.

She said that due to the spotty cell service, evacuation warnings were delivered by “people running down the street.”

“There were guys riding around on bicycles just screaming?at people to leave,” Kent said.

Some people, however, weren’t able to get out. She described the flames moving quickly, enveloping some areas in a matter of a half hour. Some people were jumping into the water to get away from the fire, she said.

“Everything is gone,” she said. “It’s the history of Lahaina that is just so devastating.”

Listen to the full account:

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12:13 - Source: CNN

Hawaii Gov. Josh Green said he anticipates some deaths as wildfires affect the island of Maui.

“Heroic efforts by first responders have prevented many casualties from occurring, but some loss of life is expected,” he said in a statement on Wednesday. ?

Green, who expects to be back in Hawaii later tonight, said he intends to submit a disaster declaration request to President Joe Biden once a preliminary damage assessment is made, likely in the next day or two.?

“Our state appreciates the incredible outpouring of concern and prayers from the mainland. We won’t forget the aloha you have already begun to share with us,” Green said.

Hawaii’s destructive wildfires are being fanned by a combination of strong wind and dry conditions that are blanketing vast swaths of the island.

While scientists are still trying to fully understand how the?climate?crisis will affect Hawaii, they have noted that drought will get worse as global temperature increases.

Currently, Maui has moderate drought covering more than one-third of the island, with some areas seeing severe drought,?according to the US Drought Monitor.?The areas in drought coincide with where some of the fires are occurring.

Warmer temperatures increase the amount of water the atmosphere can absorb, which then dries out the landscape. As?heat?sets in, the dried-out land and vegetation can provide fuel for wildfires, which can swiftly turn deadly if strong winds help fan the flames into communities.

According to the 4th US National?Climate?Assessment, released in 2018, drought conditions are becoming more extreme and common in Hawaii and other Pacific Islands. Scientists noted in that report that the rainfall has generally been decreasing in Hawaii over time, with the number of consecutive dry days increasing.

Global scientists?reported in 2021 that because of the?climate?crisis, droughts that may have occurred only once every decade or so now happen 70% more frequently.

Satellite imagery captured just how quickly Hawaii’s wildfires spread on Tuesday afternoon and evening as strong winds blew from the northeast.

Imagery from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration shows fire hotspots — which appear as glowing red circle — developed on Maui’s northwestern shore and in the higher terrain near the center of the island.

The hotspot that shows up brightest on the far west side of Maui is a massive, destructive fire burning through historic Lahaina.

A large plume of dark smoke unfurls in the area of the fire near the end of the satellite loop as strong winds blow the smoke westward, away from Maui and over Lanai.

Hawaii was predicted to have an above-average risk for fire in August — and that higher risk will remain in place for the next several months, according to a national collaborative agency.

The National Interagency Fire Center forecasts that Hawaii will be at the above-average mark for the remainder of August, plus into September, October and November.?

The NIFC collaborates with national and state wildland fire agencies to help coordinate fire management and support firefighting efforts, according to its website.

Much of Maui County, where some of the fires are burning, is experiencing a moderate drought, according to the US Drought Monitor. High winds associated with Hurricane Dora, which is located hundreds of miles southwest of Honolulu, are also helping to fan the flames across the dry landscape, experts say.

Evacuations are underway across Hawaii’s Big Island and Maui as several different wildfires rage across the islands.

Strong winds are helping to fan the fires, affecting the speed and direction of the infernos.

The Maui County Fire Department is urging people to prepare their homes for wildfires if they have the opportunity. Officials recommend clearing out combustibles within 30 feet of houses and sweeping vegetation and debris from the gutters and roof, according to a post. It’s also important to have a clear evacuation plan and to make sure hydrants and water tasks are accessible, the fire department said.

If you find yourself caught in a wildfire, here are some things you can do to try to protect yourself, according to tips from the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.

In your car:

At home:

Outside:

Maui’s Kahului Airport is sheltering approximately 1,800 travelers from “canceled flights and flight arrivals,” according to a?social media post?from the Hawaii Department of Transportation.?

The department said in the post that it “worked with airlines/TSA to shelter passengers for safety’s sake as wildfires continue to burn in Lahaina and upcountry.”?

The state of Hawaii is discouraging any non-essential travel to the island of Maui because of the fires, Hawaiian Airlines told CNN in a statement.

While flight-tracking site FlightAware only shows two cancellations so far Wednesday at Kahului, along with 13 delays — or about 9% of departing flights — there are concerns that smoke from the wildfires could disrupt more flights.

Norma Pascua Simon, who works at Kahului Airport, told CNN that several travelers had no other choice but to sleep on airport grounds Tuesday night after their flights were canceled or delayed.

Major airlines are helping passengers rebook trips due to the Hawaii wildfires.

Hawaiian Airlines, American Airlines, Southwest Airlines and United Airlines are waiving change fees for trips to and from Kahului Airport on the island of Maui.

More than 120 commercial flights are scheduled to depart from the two-runway airport Wednesday, with only six Maui flights canceled in the last 24 hours, FlightAware data shows. Kahului Airport is served by 10 airlines in total, including Delta Air Lines and Alaska Airlines.

President Joe Biden is monitoring the wildfires in Hawaii, a White House official said Wednesday. The official added that the White House has been in contact with state and local officials.

The official did not weigh in on whether the president was considering sending more federal aid to help the state.

This photo provided by County of Maui shows fire and smoke filling the sky from wildfires in Maui, Hawaii on Tuesday.

Maui County officials closed all roads to public use in the town of Lahaina as the fires on the island continue to spread.

West Maui is also closed off to all traffic, according to an update from Maui County. Only emergency personnel will be allowed into that part of the island.

Evacuations continue to be issued across Maui, and a?county press release?said that an evacuation site had to be moved to “place evacuees away from impacted Lahaina town.”

Lahaina is a census-designated place with a population of just under 13,000 people as of 2020. Lahaina resident Alan Dickar earlier posted video of several buildings on fire along Front Street, a popular thoroughfare in the area.

Hurricane Dora and the high pressure over the northern Pacific, which are combining to create strong winds over Hawaii, are moving westward during the day today and should allow the winds to slowly lessen this afternoon.?

“Expect slow decreasing wind speed trends across the Hawaiian Islands today,” the National Weather Service office in Honolulu said early Wednesday morning.

“Strong winds coupled with low humidity levels are producing dangerous fire weather conditions that will last through the afternoon hours,” the NWS said. Winds in the past hour have gusted as high as 66 mph on Maui.

By Thursday, a return to more typical breezy trade winds is expected over the islands. There is also expected to be some rain on Maui, though it will mostly be over the typically rainy eastern half of the island and not as likely over the regions affected by the fire.

Multiple wildfires are burning across different parts of Hawaii.

Take a look at the map of the islands showing the impacted areas.

Buildings are seen on fire in Lahaina, Maui, on Wednesday.

Alan Dickar, a resident of the town of Lahaina on Maui, saw one of his houses burn and the other engulfed in smoke as he evacuated the area due to fires.

“One of my houses definitely caught fire,” he said, adding that his other properties “were completely covered in smoke.”

Dickar said he has “never seen anything like this.”

While Dickar successfully evacuated Lahaina, he said he was forced to evacuate again when he reached the town of Kula, which had also received evacuation orders.

“So now, I’m in a totally?different part of Maui in a rainforest, because I figured that?was enough. And I’m safe here at?least from a fire evacuation because it’s a rainforest,” he said.

A drone video taken by Clint Hansen of Maui Real Estate Radio shows what the wildfire looked like at about 2:45 a.m. local time Wednesday.

In the video, there are cinders on the ground as well as a bright orange glow of fire off in the distance. The fire is moving toward Kahului on the north side of the island, Hansen said.

Watch his video:

Hawaii National Guard members are deployed on Maui as wildfires burn out of control on the island, according to state officials.

“Hawaii National Guardsmen have been activated and are currently on Maui assisting Maui Police Department at traffic control points,” Maj. Gen. Kenneth Hara, Hawaii’s adjutant general, posted on?Facebook.

The overnight deployment was hastened by the dynamic fire conditions, and additional National Guard personnel are expected to arrive in Maui and Hawaii counties later Wednesday, Hara said.

Lt. Governor Sylvia Luke, who is acting as the governor as Gov. Josh Green travels out of the state, issued an?emergency proclamation?related to the fires on Tuesday, which?activated the Guard.?

Mahina Martin, chief of communications and public affairs in Maui County, told CNN on Wednesday morning that fires in three areas on the island are “not contained in any fashion.”

“They are all active fires, creating the need for urgent evacuations in a variety of places throughout those districts,” she said.

About 2,000 visitors are stuck at the local airport with nowhere to go, she said.

Flames have destroyed businesses on Front Street – a major tourist strip in the historic Maui town of Lahaina,?CNN affiliate Hawaii News Now?reported. Elsewhere on the island, the Upcountry fire is estimated to be about 1,000 acres, according to county officials.

The south side of Maui island been ordered to evacuate following the existing mandatory evacuation orders in place for both residential and commercial districts.

Martin spoke to CNN at about 3:30 a.m. local time (9:30 a.m. ET) and said officials will know more when daybreak comes.

“We are certainly facing an all hands on deck (situation),” she said. “We’re most concerned with the western side of the island.”

Hurricane Dora is seen moving across the Pacific Ocean with Hawaii to its north in this satellite image taken in the early hours of Wednesday.

Winds associated with powerful Category 4 Hurricane Dora, which is passing hundreds of miles south of Hawaii, are helping to fan strong winds over the islands.

Meteorologist Robert Bohlin from the National Weather Service in Honolulu explains how:

CNN: Can you attribute the winds from Hurricane Dora to this wildfire event?

Bohlin: The winds are not directly from Hurricane Dora.?Rather, they are gradient winds between a strong high pressure center north of the Hawaiian Islands and a strong low pressure center, Hurricane Dora, passing to the south of the island chain.?The tropical storm and hurricane force winds with Dora are a different dynamic.

CNN: How are the winds fueling the fires?

Bohlin: There are downslope winds, funneling winds through mountain saddle areas and likely mountain wave wind gusts on the leeward slopes of island mountain ranges that strengthen these wind speeds. Strong winds can affect the speed and direction of fire spread and fire behavior.

CNN: Do we know what started the fire?

Bohlin: Fire investigations take time and the appropriate agencies will investigate the fire causes at a later date.

Ten public schools in Maui will be closed Wednesday due to a combination of fires, evacuations and unsafe conditions caused by heavy winds, according to Hawaii Department of Education.

State education officials said in a?press release?that multiple schools would be closed in South Maui due to “spreading bush fires and evacuations in the area.”

Maui High School will be closed to students and staff on Wednesday because it is being used as a shelter for evacuees, according to the department.

A handful of schools were also closed Tuesday over concerns about the heavy winds that officials believe contributed to the spreading fires.

Smoke rises from a wildfire in Maui, Hawaii, on Tuesday.

The hospitals on the island of Maui are overwhelmed with burn patients and people suffering from smoke inhalation, Hawaii’s Lt. Gov. Sylvia Luke told CNN, adding that caring for those injured in the wildfires has been hampered by the difficulty of transporting patients to other facilities,

Authorities are also struggling to communicate with areas cut off by the wildfires and coordinate evacuations, Luke said.

“911 is down. Cell service is down. Phone service is down. That’s been part of the problem. The Maui County has not been able to communicate with residents on the west side, the Lahaina side,” Luke said.

Satellite phones have been the only reliable way to get in touch with some people, including those in hotels, she added.

State officials are working with the hotels and a local airline to evacuate tourists to another island, the lieutenant governor said.

Hawaii’s Lt. Gov. Sylvia Luke called the wildfires burning on Maui “unprecedented” and said the state is facing severe challenges to fight the flames.?

Hurricane Dora is located more than 500 miles south of the Hawaiian Islands, and its direct winds remain several hundred miles from Hawaii. But strong winds are developing over the islands as a result of high pressure to the north and low pressure from Dora to the south.?

The lieutenant governor has called on the White House to declare a federal emergency.?

“We’re going to need FEMA support,” Luke said. “We’re going to need National Guard support.”

Watch the interview:

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04:23 - Source: CNN

Flames are seen at the intersection of Hokiokio Place and Lahaina Bypass in Maui, Hawaii, on Tuesday night.

The south side of Maui island also has just been ordered to evacuate following the existing mandatory evacuation orders in place for both residential and commercial districts, according to Mahina Martin, chief communications officer at the Maui Emergency Management Agency.

“Right now, emergency shelters are open in a number of areas?across parts of West Maui and South Maui. But as precautionary measures because of the ongoing fires, we’ve relocated the emergency shelters outside of the district,” Martin told CNN.

“In West Maui, we moved shelters away from the fire. There were 150 evacuees inside and 200 outside, and we’ve since relocated them to different emergency shelter outside of the district. Currently, we have four evacuation centers set up with another opening shortly,” she added.

The mayor of Maui signed an emergency proclamation, requesting assistance from state and federal agencies, including the National Guard, Martin said, adding that the request is currently being processed.

911 service on Maui’s west side is currently down, with resorts, visitors and commercial districts losing communication due to downed cell towers, according to Mahina Martin, chief communications officer at the Maui Emergency Management Agency.

Landlines only work within very local areas, she told CNN.

There are currently three active wildfires in three different areas across the island of Maui — one notably on the West Side District on Maui, which has a combination of resorts, hotels, residential homes and businesses, Martin explained, adding that the Upcountry area, where officials have previously estimated fires to be about 1,000 acres, is primarily residential homes and businesses.

Thousands of Hawaiian Electric Company customers on Maui are without power Wednesday morning as winds associated with Hurricane Dora — a Category 4 storm about 740 miles southwest of Honolulu — are helping to fan strong winds and wildfires.

As of 1:20 a.m. local time (7:20 a.m. ET), 14,114 customers — nearly 20% of the county — were without power, according to?Poweroutage.us.

A screenshot from a video shows the fire burning in Lahaina, Maui County, on Tuesday.

Winds associated with Hurricane Dora, which is passing hundreds of miles south of Hawaii, have helped to fan wildfires across the state’s Big Island and Maui. The fires have damaged structures, prompted rescues and even spurred people to jump into the ocean to escape danger, according to officials.

In Maui County, 12 people were rescued near Lahaina after “entering the ocean due to smoke and fire conditions,” the Coast Guard and county officials said. “Individuals were transported by the Coast Guard to safe areas,” Maui County officials said in a?news release.

Dora, a powerful Category 4 hurricane with sustained winds of 130 mph, was about 740 miles southwest of Honolulu as of late Tuesday (5 a.m. ET Wednesday), the?National Hurricane Center?said.

Smoke blows across the slope of Haleakala volcano on Maui, Hawaii, as a fire burns in Maui's upcountry region on Tuesday.

Category 4 Hurricane Dora — which is churning about 740 miles southwest of Honolulu — is helping to fan strong winds over Hawaii’s Big Island and Maui.

Wildfire behavior in both the Lahaina and Upcountry areas of Maui has tested crews.

“The fire can be a mile or more from your house, but in a minute or two, it can be at your house,” Maui County Fire Assistant Chief Jeff Giesea said in the release. “Burning airborne materials can light fires a great distance away from the main body of fire.”

A wall of flames destroyed businesses on Front Street in Lahaina, video from the area shows,?CNN affiliate Hawaii News Now?reported.

“Buildings on both sides were engulfed. There were no fire trucks at that point; I think the fire department was overwhelmed,” business owner Alan Dickar told the news outlet. “That is the most important business street on Maui.”

A wildfire burns in Lahaina, Maui County, on Tuesday.

Evacuations are underway across Hawaii’s Big Island and Maui as winds associated with Hurricane Dora, which is in the Pacific Ocean south of Hawaii, helped fan wildfires that have damaged structures.

Dora, a powerful Category 4 hurricane with sustained winds of 130 mph, was about 740 miles southwest of Honolulu as of late Tuesday (5 a.m. ET Wednesday), the?National Hurricane Center?said.

There were no hurricane watches or warnings in effect for Hawaii. Winds of 70 to 80 mph were recorded on the Big Island, Lt. Gov. Sylvia Luke told CNN.

Two brush fires were burning Tuesday on the Big Island, officials said in a?news release, one in the North Kohala District and the other in the South Kohala District. Some residents were under mandatory evacuation orders as power outages were impacting communications, the release said.

The Upcountry fire is estimated to be about 1,000 acres, according to county officials. The cause of the fire was unknown.

Luke, who is acting as the governor as Gov. Josh Green is traveling out of the state, issued an emergency proclamation Tuesday, activating the Hawaii National Guard “to support emergency responders in the impacted communities.”

CNN’s Aya Elamroussi and Jamiel Lynch contributed to this report.