Maui wildfire death toll reaches 67, making it Hawaii’s deadliest natural disaster

Officials have now confirmed that the death toll in the Hawaiian wildfire has reached 67, official making it the deadliest natural disaster in state’s history.

The new fatalities were confirmed by the Maui County government on Friday (Aug 11) afternoon even as the officials have yet to figure it out how the fires started in the first place.

The wildfires areHawaii's deadliest natural disaster, eclipsing the toll of a tsunami in 1960 that killed 61 people.

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The authorities believe that the death toll could increase further as search teams are combing through the charred remains of the Lahaina town on Maui island, after the fire burnt down 1,000 buildings and left thousands homeless.

"As firefighting efforts continue, 12 additional fatalities have been confirmed as of 1 p.m. (2300 GMT) today amid the active Lahaina fire. This brings the death toll to 67 people," Maui County said in a statement.

“The Lahaina fire is not yet contained,” the government added in a statement.

Lahaina residents return

Meanwhile, Lahaina residents were allowed to briefly return home on Friday to take stock of the damage, BBC reported.

Before returning, the officials had warned that they would be greeted by "destruction like they've not ever seen in their lives".

The state has also imposed daily curfews from 10 pm to 6 am (local time), while some of the worst-affected regions of the town remain restricted to search and rescue personnel.

According to local reports, much of Maui, and Lahaina, is still without power and water. Search crews are still in the area looking for wildfire victims.

Governor Josh Green warned Hawaiians what they found in Lahaina would be hard to see.

Watch: Social media awash with videos of deadly Maui island fire in Hawaii

"Lahaina is a devastated zone. They will see destruction like they've not ever seen in their lives," said the governor, who visited the town on Thursday. "Be very safe, be very careful."

He said that the search operations are unable to access Lahaina as the flames that died down for a brief period of time suddenly reignited, and firefighters had shifted their focus to other areas on the island.

Questions raisedonwarning system

Meanwhile, questions are being raised whether the residents received any warning before the fire engulfed their homes.

Responding to concerns, Green clarified that "the telecommunications were destroyed very rapidly" at that point, indicating that the they were unable to alert the people.

"That communication was cut off," the governor said.

At a press conference on Thursday, Maui County Fire Chief Bradford Ventura said that the fire's speed made it "nearly impossible" for frontline responders to communicate with the emergency management officials, who would typically provide real-time evacuation orders. He also noted that cellular service was knocked out.

"They were basically self-evacuating with fairly little notice," he said, referring to residents of the neighbourhood where the fire initially struck.

Though it is still unclear how the wildfires began, but once lit, hurricane winds and dry weather helped fuel the flames.

(With inputs from agencies)

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