Fires fanned by the winds of a distant hurricane devastated Maui and other parts of Hawaii, forcing some residents to flee for their lives and turning tourist destinations on the tropical islands into flaming infernos.
Some Maui residents jumped into the ocean to escape the smoke and fire conditions on Wednesday, prompting the US Coast Guard to rescue them, according to a Maui County press release.
Official details on the extent of casualties and building damages were scant early on Wednesday morning, but panicked residents fleeing the flames posted videos and photos on social media showing apocalyptic clouds of smoke billowing up over formerly paradisiacal beaches and palm trees.
The situation in Hawaii mirrored scenes of devastation elsewhere in the world this summer, as wildfires caused by record-setting heat forced the evacuation of tens of thousands of people in Greece, Spain, Portugal, and other parts of Europe.
Scientists say that human-caused climate change – driven by fossil fuel use – is increasing the frequency and intensity of such extreme weather events. They have long warned government officials to drastically reduce emissions to prevent climate catastrophe.
Dustin Johnson, from San Diego, was in Lahaina, a residential and tourist area with a commercial district in West Maui, working for a charter boat company that takes tourists on two-hour tours from the Lahaina harbor.
“I was the last one off the dock when the firestorm came through the banyan trees and took everything with it,” he told Reuters in an interview at the airport in Maui. “And I just ran out and helped everyone I could along the way.”
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 is unusual.
In an MSNBC report on Wednesday afternoon, a Lahaina resident reported that “every boat was burning” in the harbour and that “the harbour is gone.”
By Tuesday night, hundreds of acres had already burned and roads and schools had closed in parts of Hawaii and Maui Counties, according to an emergency proclamation issued by acting Hawaii Governor Sylvia Luke. Hawaii County encompasses the Big Island, which lies south of Maui.
In Maui, the fires also destroyed parts of Kula, a residential area in the inland, mountainous Upcountry region, the proclamation said.
Maui County spokesperson Mahina Martin told USA TODAY on Wednesday that fires were also affecting Kihei, home to a mix of residential homes, condominiums, short-term vacation rentals and visitor facilities in South Maui.
