Maui authorities say more than 800 people remain unaccounted for two weeks after the deadliest U.S. wildfire in more than a century destroyed the community of Lahaina.
“I probably had, at any given time, 10 to 15 detectives who were assigned to nothing but trying to account for people who were unaccounted for,” Butte County Sheriff Kory Honea said in a phone interview. “At one point the local editor of our newspaper … said, ‘Hey, if you give me the names, I will print them.’ And at that point it was like, ‘Absolutely. Anything that we can do to help out.’”
The American Red Cross said it generates its own list — separate from law enforcement — of people who are unaccounted for through requests made to its call center and information gathered by its field teams, spokesperson Daniel Parra said. The organization has also entered into a data-sharing agreement with federal, state and local government agencies to help with reunifications.
Social outreach like this will be crucial as identifying human remains after wildfires — and confirming whether those who are unaccounted for are deceased — can be an arduous, lengthy process. Fire experts say it’s possible some bodies were cremated in the Lahaina fire, meaning there may be no bones left to identify through DNA tests.
“This is such an extreme disaster,” he said. “It is so rare to need this kind of tallying and identification.” That included visiting people's last known residences, contacting telecommunications companies to see whether they had used their cell phones, and reaching out by email and social media.Scuba instructor Tim Ferguson, whose home north of Lahaina was spared, was elated to hear about a friend who managed to flee the flames with their family, including a 2-week-old baby, a 3-year-old toddler and their two dogs. They lost their home but are safe.
The situation on Maui is still evolving rapidly, but those who have lived through similar tragedies and never learned of their loved ones' fate are also following the news and hurting for the victims and their families.
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