Aug. 15 (UPI) — Maui officials confirmed the latest death toll from the Lahaina fire reached 106 Tuesday night local time, as they identified the first victims killed by the fire.
Maui County said the bodies of Robert Dyckman, 74, and Buddy Jantoc, 79, both of Lahaina were confirmed. Officials said that three others have been identified but their names will not be released until the families are officially notified.
The county said families can provide DNA samples of missing family members by visiting the Kahului Community Center.
Earlier Tuesday, Hawaii Gov. Josh Green announced that there are children among the wildfire victims as investigators have discovered the remains of entire families in burned-out homes and in cars trying to escape from the deadliest U.S. wildfire in a century.
“That’s one of the toughest parts of this,” Green said in a local news interview. “It’s one of the reasons … we are asking for some patience when going into the ground zero area because some of the sites are too much to share or see from just a human perspective, and also you don’t want to disrupt any recovery.”
The search area for victims has expanded from 3% of Lahaina to 27% of the devastated historic town, as the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s 20 cadaver-sniffing dogs comb through burnt-out homes, businesses and cars in what the agency calls “Phase Zero.”
Green also said Tuesday night plans to reopen the Lahaina Bypass for several hours a day to “reunite the pieces of Maui.”
“We’re trying to get back to normal so that people’s lives can begin to in some ways be reconnected to the other side of the island.”
Green said the periodic reopening of the roadway between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m., local time, each day will help to “decompress our communities and begin the healing of our people,” but warned, “no one will be allowed to go into the impact zone where the tragedy has occurred.”
The burned-out historic district of Lahaina remains barricaded, as officials face ongoing questions over why sirens remained silent during the Aug. 8 fires, which erupted during heavy winds.
More than 2,100 acres burned and more than 2,700 homes and businesses were lost.
Hawaiian Electric Co., which has drawn scrutiny as investigators search for a cause, reported it has restored power to all but 2,000 of its 12,400 customers who were in the dark last week.
On Tuesday, Biden told reporters he will travel to Maui soon to view the devastation, but said he wants to make sure any presidential visit would not slow recovery efforts.
“I don’t want to get in the way — I’ve been to too many disaster areas, but I want to go and make sure we got everything we need. I want to be sure we don’t disrupt the ongoing recovery efforts,” Biden added, pledging to Maui “every asset, every asset they need,” in a post on X.
Green said he and Biden would “work out a time for him to come when the tough work is done, when the heartbreaking work is done on the ground, finding those we’ve lost.”
“I spoke with the president this morning. We speak often. He and Jill Biden extend their absolute love and heartfelt regrets about the tragedy,” he added.
Currently, there are more than 500 federal workers in Maui. FEMA is helping with food, water and shelter. The U.S. Army is working to suppress the fire, while the U.S. Coast Guard and Navy help with search and rescue.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is helping with roads, power outages and hazardous waste removal. The Small Business Administration is making disaster loans available to homeowners and businesses. And the Department of Health and Human Services has approved a public health emergency, as authorities warn the fires could pose long-term health risks to those exposed to chemical compounds in the air and water.
For those who lost their homes, there are currently 11 shelters open, according to the Red Cross of Hawaii which has housed about 4,000 people.
Green announced Tuesday night that there are 500 hotel rooms to house those who lost their homes in the fires, in addition to an AirBnB program, which has more than a thousand available rooms or houses. All of the housing is being covered by FEMA.
“We want everyone to be able to leave the shelters and go into stable housing, which is going to take a very long time,” Green said.
The Maui Humane Society has received reports of 367 lost animals and estimates there may be as many as 3,000 pets missing or dead. The Humane Society is checking animals for microchips so they can contact their owners to reconnect or provide closure. Food and water stations have been set up in the area for roaming and lost pets.
A series of emergency proclamations are currently in effect on Maui, suspending normal rules for rebuilding. The governor has vowed to place a “moratorium on any sales of properties that have been damaged or destroyed” and added “we’re hopeful to create a memorial for the people in the state of Hawaii in this site.”
“Trying to take land away from our people before we’ve had a chance to grieve and rebuild is not ‘pono,’ and we will not stand for it,” Green told reporters Tuesday. Pono is a Hawaiian word meaning “righteousness.”
“We’ll also invest state resources to preserve and protect this land for our people, not for any development, for our people locally,” Green added in a statement. “I will allow no one from outside our state to buy any land until we get through this crisis and decide what Lahaina should be in the future after every victim has been found.”
Maui Police Chief John Pelletier urged “patience, prayers and perseverance” Tuesday as he told reporters that he hopes to search up to 90% of Lahaina by the end of this weekend, despite remains still being discovered in areas that were originally cleared and even being found on searchers’ clothing.
“It’s not just ash on your clothing when you take it off,” Pelletier said. “It’s our loved ones.”
