Wildfires fanned by winds of a distant hurricane killed at least six people and devastated much of Hawaii's Maui island on Wednesday, forcing thousands to evacuate as some people fled into the ocean to escape the smoke and flames.
Multiple neighborhoods were burnt to the ground as the western side of the island, including the tourist resort of Lahaina, was nearly cut off with only one highway open as officials told of widespread devastation that was still too early to quantify.
With firefighters still battling three major blazes, western Maui was closed to all but emergency workers and evacuees. "I was the last one off the dock when the firestorm came through the banyan trees and took everything with it. And I just ran out and helped everyone I could along the way," said Dustin Johnson, who was in Lahaina Harbor working for a charter boat company that offers two-hour tours. He spoke from Kahului Airport, normally a 25-minute drive east of Lahaina.
"Everything is fluid and dynamic. They are doing search and rescue as we speak," said National Guard Major General Kenneth Hara, urging tourists to leave Maui, adding they could seek refuge at a convention center in Honolulu, on the island of Oahu. in Greece, Spain, Portugal, and other parts of Europe, and western Canada suffered unusually severe fires.
The cause in Maui had yet to be determined but the National Weather Service said the fires were fueled by a mix of dry vegetation, strong winds, and low humidity. According to the University of Hawaii, large fires are an almost annual occurrence in some parts of the Hawaiian archipelago, though the scope of these fires was unusual.
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