A wildfire in Maui destroyed dozens of homes and businesses in a historic tourist town, killing at least 6 people and injuring at least 2 dozen others, and forcing panicked residents to jump into the ocean to flee the flames.
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"Do NOT go to Lahaina Town," the county tweeted hours before all roads in and out of West Maui's biggest community were closed to everyone except emergency personnel. More than 2,100 people spent the night in evacuation centers. Fires killed six people on the island of Maui, county of Maui Mayor Richard Bissen Jr. said during a Wednesday morning news conference. He said he had just learned the news and didn't know the details of how or where on the island the deaths happened.
Officials then were not aware of any deaths, Martin said. There's no count available for the number of structures that have burned or the number of people who have evacuated, but Martin said there were four shelters open and that more than 1,000 people were at the largest. Smoke fills the air from wildfires at Lahaina harbor on Tuesday in Hawaii. Fire was widespread in Lahaina Town, including on Front Street, a popular shopping and dining area, County of Maui spokesperson Mahina Martin said by phone early Wednesday.
Tiare Lawrence was frantically trying to reach her siblings Wednesday morning, but there was no phone service. Her home in the Maui community of Pukalani, east of Lahaina, was refuge for 14 cousins and uncles who fled Lahaina. "It was apocalyptic from what they explained," Lawrence said. "The heat. Smoke and flames everywhere. They had to get my elderly uncle out of the home."In the Kula area of Maui, at least two homes were destroyed in a fire that engulfed about 1.
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