Maui firefighters get an assist from a Hawaii National Guard Chinook helicopter and a Goodfellow Brothers water tanker while holding the line at the top of Ohukai Street in Kihei Wednesday afternoon. The Chinook was part of the air support sent by federal officials to Maui Wednesday to help fight the fire. The Maui News / MATTHEW THAYER photo
Military helicopters carrying large water-drop equipment and specialized search teams headed to Maui as President Joe Biden ordered federal aid to help battle three major fires on the island Wednesday.
“Jill and I send our deepest condolences to the families of those who lost loved ones in the wildfires in Maui, and our prayers are with those who have seen their homes, businesses, and communities destroyed,” Biden said in a statement Wednesday. “We are grateful to the brave firefighters and first responders who continue to run toward danger, putting themselves in harm’s way to save lives.”
Biden ordered all available federal assets in the islands to help with the response.
Emergency crews are fighting multiple fires that began Tuesday in Lahaina, Upcountry and Pulehu. The Lahaina fire had killed at least six people and impacted more than 271 structures as of Wednesday, according to Maui County. The Upcountry fire had burned about 1,100 acres and multiple structures. Exact estimates on acreage, damage and containment were not available on Wednesday, as officials said they were focused on fighting the fires and would do a more extensive assessment later.
Maj. Gen. Kenneth Hara, the state’s adjutant general, said during a news conference in Honolulu on Wednesday that the Hawaii National Guard dispatched two CH-47 Chinook helicopters to Maui, including one with “enhanced emergency response force package,” a team specially trained to do search and rescue in wide areas as well as confined urban spaces. Hara said Wednesday evening that the two Chinook helicopters flew 13 hours and did 58 drops with 150,000 gallons of water in fire suppression efforts.
High winds on Tuesday made conditions unsafe for helicopter operations, but improving weather allowed four helicopters, including ones from the U.S. Coast Guard and Navy, to launch Wednesday morning to help with firefighting efforts.
Hara also said the Federal Emergency Management Agency is deploying an incident management assistance team.
In Maui County, it’s been all hands on deck. Close to 100 Maui firefighters have been on duty around the clock, including 11 from state airport firefighting and rescue personnel. Maui County said Wednesday afternoon that the Maui Fire Department had requested 20 additional firefighters from Honolulu and an incident management team.
“I can tell you we did not anticipate having these many fires simultaneously,” Maui County Mayor Richard Bissen said via Zoom during Wednesday’s news conference. “So we have drawn our assets from every place on the island except for Hana.”
He said the state Department of Land and Natural Resources’ Division of Forestry and Wildlife had also contributed personnel, and park rangers from Haleakala had also offered to help.
Hara also said officials are also focusing on getting West Maui more law enforcement support, water distribution and restored communications. Cellphone and landline service was still out in West Maui as of Wednesday, and emergency responders were relying solely on satellite service or radios, Bissen said.
“We are trying to restore power,” the mayor said. “I also understand fiberoptics were also devastated in the fires. I can’t speak to satellite and how that technology works, but anything that was on the ground that assisted in getting any kind of communication has been burnt or partially burnt or destroyed.”
Lt. Gov. Sylvia Luke, who is serving as acting governor while Gov. Josh Green is traveling on the Mainland, said the state issued an emergency proclamation Wednesday discouraging nonessential travel to Maui and ordering all affected state agencies to assist with the evacuation.
“This is not a safe place to be,” Luke said during the news conference. “On certain parts of Maui we have shelters that are overrun. We have resources that are being taxed. We are doing whatever we can.”
State and county officials have blamed the strong winds of Hurricane Dora, which passed hundreds of miles south of the islands on Tuesday as a Category 4 storm.
Luke said that residents in Hawaii have come to expect rain and sometimes flooding from a passing hurricane.
“We never anticipated in this state that a hurricane, which did not make impact on our islands, would cause these types of wildfires,” Luke said. “Wildfires that wiped out communities. Wildfires that wiped out businesses. Wildfires that destroyed homes. We are learning and gathering information more and more and we just feel so sad and just great sympathy and prayers out to the people of Maui.”
Luke said Gov. Josh Green was cutting short his trip to Boston to return to Hawaii late Wednesday night.
About 2,000 people whose flights were impacted by the fires spent Tuesday night at Kahului Airport, and state officials said they planned to set up a temporary shelter at the Hawaii Convention Center on Oahu to accommodate people trying to leave Maui. State Department of Transportation Director Ed Sniffen said about 11,000 travelers were transported off of Maui on Wednesday.
James Kunane Tokioka, director of the state Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism, said the shelter is “not only for the visitors.”
“Local people have lost everything,” he said during the news conference. “They’ve lost their houses. They’ve lost their animals. It’s devastating. We also are reaching out to local people. The shelters on Maui may be full so you may not have an option. But you do have an option here on Oahu.”
Carriers said they planned to continue their trans-Pacific and interisland routes. Alaska Airlines said it planned to operate all departures out of Kahului Airport over the next few days. The airline, which has eight scheduled departures a day to the Mainland, has put in a flexible travel policy so passengers can adjust their plans.
“We are committed to getting airplanes and crews into Maui so that we can operate full flights of guests needing to leave the island,” the airline said via email Wednesday.
Hawaiian Airlines also said it was offering guests flexible options to change their flights and receive a refund by calling (800) 367-5320.
“We ask that guests with non-urgent travel inquiries to please call back later so that we can assists those with immediate needs,” the airline said via email Wednesday. “Guests traveling to and from Maui should continue to check their flight status on our website or app before coming to the airport. The safety of our guests and employees, including teammates who live and work on Maui, is our priority, and we will continue to support the state with its ongoing response.”
* Managing Editor Colleen Uechi can be reached at cuechi@mauinews.com.
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