What fueled the Hawaiian wildfires that killed dozens and leveled historic Lahaina town

Amna Nawaz:

They're still fighting fires tonight on the Hawaiian island of Maui, in the nation's deadliest fire disaster in five years. At least 36 people are known dead and more than 270 buildings damaged or destroyed across a blackened landscape.

Man:

Oh my gosh, look at the harbor.

Amna Nawaz:

The resort town of Lahaina is now shrouded in a blanket of thick smoke. The popular tourist spot on the western coast of Maui, steeped in native Hawaiian history dating back to the 1700s, was virtually unrecognizable today, even to locals.

Man:

Oh, my goodness. Look at all these houses.

Amna Nawaz:

Adding to the devastating human toll is the loss of cultural treasures.

Richard Olsten, Air Maui Helicopters:

We were not prepared for what we saw.

Amna Nawaz:

Richard Olsten is a helicopter pilot for a Maui tour group.

Richard Olsten:

Lahaina used to be the capital of all of Hawaii. All the places that are tourist areas that are Hawaiian history are gone, and that can't be replaced. You can't refurbish a building that is just ashes now. It can't be rebuilt. It's lost forever.

Amna Nawaz:

Another casualty, the famous 60-foot-tall banyan tree marking where a Hawaiian king's palace once stood.

The fires erupted Tuesday night, catching islanders and tourists by surprise. Some even fled into the ocean to escape the flames. Thousands of Maui residents were forced to evacuate.

Jamie Brown, Lahaina Resident:

Woke up this morning and got on our phones, took pictures of our house, just down to the slab, nothing but smoke, cinders.

Amna Nawaz:

The flames were fueled by dry vegetation and low humidity, along with strong winds from a hurricane farther south.

Clay Trauernicht, University of Hawaii: In the past several decades, as agriculture kind of declined — this is across the state — these spaces fill in with literally tons of fuel. And these grassy fuels are highly sensitive to quick drying out and really easy to ignite.

Amna Nawaz:

Entire neighborhoods were destroyed. Block after block revealed the charred shells of homes and vehicles, some still smoldering.

Today, thousands of customers were still without power and cell phone service. The only road in and out of Lahaina was closed to most traffic to clear the way for fire and emergency crews. Hawaii's National Guard flew chinook helicopters to put out fires and help with search-and-rescue operations.

President Biden also approved a disaster declaration for Hawaii, bringing federal assistance to the state.

Joining me now from Maui is KITV4 Island News meteorologist Malika Dudley.

Malika, thank you for joining us.

This is one of those stories you're not just covering, but living through. I understand you had to evacuate when the fires began. I just want to ask how you and your family are doing.

Malika Dudley, Meteorologist, KITV4 Island News:

We're doing as well as we can.

I think we're still in a state of shock. And we begin to mourn. There are moments of just sobbing outbursts where I just have to let it out. And there are other moments where I'm just trying to keep things normal and happy for my children, because this is a really, really dark time for us here on Maui.

Amna Nawaz:

I'm so sorry for what you when everyone else is going through.

We have been hearing these words like catastrophic and apocalyptic to describe the scenes on the ground. You're there. What does it look like and feel like and sound like around you?

Malika Dudley:

Well, fortunately, I evacuated from my home, and I'm in a safe place, where we have power, we have water, we have a roof over our heads, and we're all safe.

So I haven't seen it with my own eyes in Lahaina. But I have seen the videos and the pictures. I have heard the stories. I'm constantly updating on Instagram. And these days, that's where you get most of your information really from on the ground from witnesses.

And so I have been hearing just devastating stories from people. And when you think about the people that are telling you the story — for example, one woman this morning, shared that she ran for her life. The fire moved on block in 15 seconds. So she ran for her life, jumped over the seawall into the water, and was basically in the water for seven hours.

In the meantime, one of her apartment mates died right next to her. She saw that happen. And then she felt like she was getting hypothermia. So she would approach anything that was on fire in order to get some warmth, which then would burn her.

So, a story like that is — those are the types of stories that we're hearing. And those are from mobile, able-bodied people who are able to run. And so to think of just all of the people that — the elderly, those that are not mobile, children, maybe even, we don't know.

But we see the entire town leveled. We know 271 structures have gone. Those are businesses and homes. History is lost. Lahaina town is so full of history. It's definitely the most historic town on our island and one of the most historic in the entire island chain.

So, to lose not just the homes, the businesses, the history, but also now to hear that we're losing lives, and the number is just going to keep rising, has been devastating.

Amna Nawaz:

Malika, we understand the fires are still burning across Maui. There have been reports of more fires on the islands of Hawaii and Oahu.

Do you have any updates on how much of those fires have actually been contained?

Malika Dudley:

Yes, so the most important update just came minutes ago. And Lahaina fire is 80 percent contained. That is such good news.

My husband just went over to the fire that was threatening our home. He says — he didn't go over to it. You can see it because the mountain shows us a good view of what is happening. And he said that it's still active, but it doesn't seem that our home is in danger. But we still haven't gotten the all-clear.

So we're kind of just in a wait-and-see pattern right now.

Amna Nawaz:

We know thousands of people still don't have power, cell service as well.

Have you heard anything about how quickly any of those services could be reinstated?

Malika Dudley:

You know, the thing is that, in Lahaina, what potentially even cause the fires was the power lines that went down; 29 power lines went down.

So there is no easy, quick fix to this. The fiberoptic cable was damaged over in Lahaina as well. So, for Lahaina town, this is not, oh, in 24 hours, HECO will be fixing this. That's not the kind of situation we're in.

We're in a years-to-recover phase for that side of the island. Now, as far as the other side of the island, where we had a fire in Kea, we had a fire in Kula, and there are other people on other parts of the island that are without power. Those, they will probably get fixed, but we still don't know when. I still don't have power at my home, for example.

Amna Nawaz:

We are thinking of you and everyone else there and keeping you in our thoughts. We can't thank you enough for joining us tonight.

Malika Dudley, KITV4 Island News meteorologist, joining us from Maui, thank you.