Lahaina (Hawaii) : In the raging fire that swept through a picturesque town in Maui, United States of America, this week has killed at least 89 people, authorities said Saturday, making it the deadliest US wildfire of the past century. The newly released figure surpassed the toll of the 2018 Camp Fire in northern California, which left 85 dead.
A century earlier, the 1918 Cloquet Fire broke out in drought-stricken northern Minnesota and raced through a number of rural communities, destroying thousands of homes and killing hundreds. At least two other fires have been burning in Maui, with no fatalities reported thus far: in south Maui's Kihei area and in the mountainous, inland communities known as Upcountry.
A fourth broke out Friday evening in Kaanapali, a coastal community in West Maui north of Lahaina, but crews were able to extinguish it, authorities said. according to an Associated Press report.
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Meanwhile, dogs trained to find bodies sniffed through piles of rubble and ash as stunned survivors of deadly wildfires on the Hawaiian island of Maui took stock of their shattered lives and tried to imagine rebuilding from nothing. Officials scrambled on Saturday to find temporary housing for more than 4,000 people as the astonishing scope of the devastation became clear.
Communications were difficult, with 30 cell towers still offline, and power outages were expected to last several weeks on the western side of the island, where some fires had still not been contained as of late Friday. Authorities, meanwhile, warned that the death toll could rise as search efforts continue. Those who escaped the fast-moving conflagrations were counting their blessings, thankful to be alive even as they mourned the loss of their homes and all of their possessions. (with agency inputs)
