A brush fire raging across Hawaii has sent thousands of residents fleeing their homes, killing at least 36 people and destroying parts of a centuries-old town.
Flames tore through the island of Maui on Wednesday, devastating the town of Lahaina as strong winds whipping from Hurricane Dora passing about 500 miles to the south fueled the blaze.
"As the firefighting efforts continue, 36 total fatalities have been discovered today amid the active Lahaina fire," Maui County said in a news release late Wednesday. "No other details are available at this time."
Officials said earlier that 271 structures were damaged or destroyed and dozens of people injured.
The Coast Guard said it rescued 14 people who jumped into the water to escape flames and smoke, including two children.
Crews continued to battle blazes in several places on the island as authorities urged visitors to stay away. FOX Weather reports that windy conditions are expected to subside as the gradient between the ridge of high pressure and Dora weakens over the next few days.
The fire's path of destruction left burned-out cars in the middle of streets and turned historic structures into piles of smoking rubble.
TEXAS BRUSH FIRE BURNS 120 ACRES, COMPLETELY DESTROYS APARTMENT BUILDING
"We barely made it out," Lahaina resident Kamuela Kawaakoa, who escaped with his wife and their 6-year-old son, told The Associated Press. "It was so hard to sit there and just watch my town burn to ashes and not be able to do anything. I was helpless."
About 14,500 customers in Maui were without power early Wednesday, and cell service and phone lines were down in some areas. People have taken to social media to check in with friends and family members as they struggled to contact those living near the wildfires.
While high winds, low humidity and dry vegetation are factors in the deadly wildfire, experts also say climate change is increasing the likelihood of extreme weather events.
"It’s leading to these unpredictable or unforeseen combinations that we’re seeing right now and that are fueling this extreme fire weather," Kelsey Copes-Gerbitz, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of British Columbia’s faculty of forestry, told the AP. "What these ... catastrophic wildfire disasters are revealing is that nowhere is immune to the issue."
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
