The big picture: The fire that razed most of the historic town of Lahaina on Maui on Aug. 8 is already one of the deadliest wildfires in modern U.S. history, but the full extent of its devastation may not be known for a long while. Officials warned the number of those missing could fluctuate in the coming days.
- At least 115 people have been confirmed to have died in the Lahaina fire, per a Maui County statement Tuesday.
Zoom in: Maui County Mayor Richard Bissen said Monday that 850 people were missing, but officials said at a briefing Tuesday that 1,000 to 1,100 people were unaccounted for and that number may rise if more reports come in.
- Steven Merrill, FBI special agent in charge of the Honolulu field office, said at the briefing that “every day the numbers will change,” but what officials were most “concerned about is trying to clear people from the list, and that has reliably gone down every day.”
- Officials at the briefing urged more people to provide DNA samples to help authorities identify victims.
Maui Police Chief John Pelletier said last week that rescuers who searched through the aftermath of 9/11 were involved in the search in Lahaina, as well as 20 cadaver dogs.
- A Washington Post investigation using security camera footage and sensor data indicates that the first reported fire on Maui likely started from a power line faulting, meaning it either contacted vegetation or another line or was knocked down.