Maui County police find additional remains, death toll at 99

FILE - The hall of historic Waiola Church in Lahaina and nearby Lahaina Hongwanji Mission are engulfed in flames along Wainee Street on Aug. 8, 2023, in Lahaina, Hawaii. The death toll for the deadliest U.S. wildfire in more than a century has increased by one, to 99, after Maui County police found additional remains. The remains were recovered on Oct. 12 in Lahaina, police spokesperson Alana Pico said in an email Friday, Oct. 20, 2023. (Matthew Thayer/The Maui News via AP, File)

LAHAINA, Hawaii — The death toll for the deadliest U.S. wildfire in more than a century has increased by one, to 99, after Maui County police found additional remains.

The remains were recovered on Oct. 12 in Lahaina, police spokesperson Alana Pico said in an email Friday. An autopsy and forensic examination verified that they were not from a previously recovered individual.

So far police have identified the remains of 97 people from the Aug. 8 fire that wiped out much of Lahaina, a historic town on Maui’s west coast. The remains of two people have yet to be identified. Six people are still missing.

The wildfire started in a grassy area in Lahaina’s hills. Powerful winds related to a hurricane passing to Hawaii’s south carried embers from house to house and hampered firefighting efforts. More than 2,000 buildings were destroyed, and some 8,000 people were forced to move to hotels and other temporary shelter.

2 Comments
  1. Three-way speaker October 21, 2023 7:27 am Reply

    Do they have a forest fire put out crew? Just for forest fire. I think they should a list of names and pay these people big money just for the job. Like $25,000 lump sum after they’re through fighting fire.


  2. Three-way speaker October 22, 2023 12:23 pm Reply

    Symbolic of America. The Hongwanji mission church is in flames. It’s not Bible or Israel. So it burned down. I think this forest fire was a symbolic gesture of who is in charge in Hawai’i. Every thing will be destroyed. Including false religion. Where are the FEMA? No where to be found. They lost all of it. Gone. Now what?


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