Search for wildfire victims continues with hundreds still 'not located'
Aug. 13—UPDATE: 11:25 p.m.
Maui County officials says these services and resources are available today:
>> Lahaina Gateway Center will be open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. for distribution of food, water and other supplies. A potable water tanker is at the location.
>> A free Central Maui shuttle will be available starting today for people who are staying at any of the county-listed Central Maui shelters, the County of Maui Department of Transportation announced today. Shelters include War Memorial Gymnasium in Wailuku, King's Cathedral in Kahului and Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Kahului. The on-demand shuttle will be available for same-day rides to most shopping destinations and medical facilities in Central Maui. The shuttle will be available 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. (last pickup). Riders will be required to call Roberts Hawaii for reservations at (808) 871-4838. Mobility devices, such as wheelchairs, can be accommodated. Luggage and bags will be limited to what can be carried.
>> Donations of non-perishable food, bottled water and hygiene products are being accepted at a War Memorial Complex field off Kanaloa Avenue from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. West Maui residents have requested coolers, slippers, underwear, flashlights and generators.
>> The American Red Cross emergency evacuation shelter at Maui High School in Kahului is being moved today to the South Maui Gymnasium in Kihei. All activities are canceled at Kihei Regional Park due to the gym being used as an emergency evacuation shelter as of 9 a.m.
>> With power being restored in some areas of West Maui, Ohana Fuels/Minit Stop on Keawe Street in Lahaina and Kahana Gateway Shell are open for gasoline.
9:15 a.m.
Oprah Winfrey arrived this morning with a CBS news crew to visit with survivors of the Lahaina wildfire who were staying at the War Memorial Complex in Wailuku. Winfrey and the news crew were turned away at the entrance because media are restricted from entering.
EARLIER COVERAGE
Search crews using cadaver-sniffing dogs today resume the grim task of finding victims of Tuesday's firestorm that is already the deadliest U.S. wildfire in over a century, with 93 confirmed deaths so far and untold hundreds still unaccounted for.
Gov. Josh Green said at a news conference on Maui Saturday that the fatality number will "continue to rise. We want to brace people for that."
Government officials still have not released an exact number of the missing or unaccounted for on Maui five days after Tuesday's catastrophic inferno that incinerated most of Lahaina, and burned a large swath of Kula. A crowd-sourced community Googledoc, called the Maui Fires People Locator, still has many hundreds of people still listed as "not located" today.
Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Pacific Disaster Center maps released yesterday show an estimated 2,207 structures — 86% of them residences — in Lahaina were damaged or destroyed in the wind-whipped inferno, with losses approaching $6 billion.
In the Upcountry fire, there were 544 "structures exposed" — with three buildings in Olinda and 16 in Kula destroyed — and 678 acres burned, according to officials.
Up to 4,500 people are in need of shelter, according to FEMA and the Pacific Disaster Center.
Speaking at the news conference Saturday in Wailuku, Maui Police Chief John Pelletier said two of the victims have been identified, but their names were not released.
Officials said the recovered remains so far were mostly from outside of the building rubble, and mainly in burned-out cars. Witnesses have reported seeing numerous fire victims in their vehicles and on the streets, overtaken as they tried to flee from the flames and intense heat.
Pelletier said only 3% of the impacted areas had been covered by cadaver dogs from FEMA's Urban Search & Rescue Teams, and that 12 more dogs were on their way to Maui to expedite the process of locating human remains. He also encouraged the family members of those who may have perished to submit a DNA sample to assist in identification.
An influx of National Guard and U.S. active-duty military members also are being sent to Maui. Brig. Gen. Steve Logan, commander of the Hawaii National Guard, was appointed by Green Saturday as dual-status commander. Normally, the National Guard and active-duty military operate under separate chains of command. Logan said at the news conference that there is "a vast array of active-duty forces that are ready to flow into the County of Maui" to support Mayor Richard Bissen and his administration
FEMA said it has deployed over 150 personnel, including search and rescue teams, with more on the way. More than a dozen federal agencies and departments have been mobilized to assist state, county, nonprofit and private-sector entities, including the Department of Defense, U.S. Coast Guard, Army Corps of Engineers and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
In other developments:
>> Firefighting crews continue to battle flare ups in the Lahaina and Upcountry Maui fires.
>> Hawaiian Electric said Saturday evening that since Friday, service has been restored to about 5,500 customers in West Maui. Those customers include hotels, resorts and condominiums that had been without electricity since Tuesday along the Kaanapali Coast, the company said. Once power is fully restored to the resort area, state and Maui County officials will work with participating hotels and resorts to provide rooms for displaced residents who have been in shelters since the fire, according to a Hawaiian Electric news release.
>> Crews on Saturday also installed a mobile substation at the Lahainaluna substation, which is expected to help restore power Sunday to customers in the neighboring subdivision, which includes homes, three schools and county water facilities, the company said.
