Bright orange X's on buildings signal search for bodies after deadly Maui fire, HR for human remains

The sad task of counting the dead in the aftermath of a catastrophic wildfire on the Hawaiian island of Maui came into stark focus Saturday, as teams sifted through the rubble, marking homes with a bright orange X to indicate they had looked for victims and HR when they discovered human remains.

The fire ravaged the centuries-old village of Lahaina on Maui’s west coast, destroying hundreds of houses. The governor predicted that additional bodies would be discovered.

“There are already 80 fatalities. It’s going to rise,” Gov. Josh Green remarked Saturday as he toured the devastation on historic Front Street. “It will certainly be the worst natural disaster that Hawaii ever faced. … We can only wait and support those who are living. Our focus now is to reunite people when we can and get them housing and get them health care, and then turn to rebuilding.”

Those who survived were counting their blessings, grateful to be alive while mourning those who did not.

Geoff Bogar, a retired fire captain, and his 35-year buddy Franklin Trejos originally stayed behind to aid others in Lahaina and preserve Bogar’s house. But when the flames grew closer Tuesday afternoon, they knew they had to go. Each fled to his or her own automobile. When Bogar’s car wouldn’t start, he smashed a window and crawled on the ground until a police patrol spotted him and took him to the hospital.

Trejos was not as fortunate. When Bogar arrived the next day, he discovered his 68-year-old friend’s bones in the back seat of his car, on top of the remains of the Bogars’ beloved 3-year-old golden retriever Sam, whom he had attempted to protect.

Trejos, a Costa Rican native, had lived with Bogar and his wife, Shannon Weber-Bogar, for years, assisting her with her seizures when her husband couldn’t. He brought joy and laughter into their lives.

“God took a really good man,” Weber-Bogar said.

Bill Wyland, who lives on the island of Oahu but owns an art gallery on Lahaina’s historic Front Street, fled on his Harley Davidson, whipping the motorcycle onto empty sidewalks Tuesday to avoid traffic-jammed roads as embers burned the hair off the back of his neck.

Riding in winds he estimated to be at least 70 miles per hour (112 kilometres per hour), he passed a man on a bicycle who was madly pedalling for his life.

“It’s something you’d see in a Twilight Zone, horror movie or something,” Wyland said.

Wyland realized just how lucky he had been when he returned to downtown Lahaina on Thursday.

“It was devastating to see all the burned-out cars. There was nothing that was standing,” he said.

His gallery was destroyed, along with the works of 30 artists.

Emergency managers in Maui were searching for places to house people displaced from their homes. As many as 4,500 people are in need of shelter, county officials said on Facebook early Saturday, citing figures from the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Pacific Disaster Center.

Flyovers by the Civil Air Patrol found 1,692 structures destroyed — almost all of them residential. Nine boats sank in Lahaina Harbor, officials determined using sonar.

The wildfires are the state’s deadliest natural disaster in decades, surpassing a 1960 tsunami that killed 61 people. An even deadlier tsunami in 1946, which killed more than 150 on the Big Island, prompted development of a territory-wide emergency system with sirens that are tested monthly.

Hawaii emergency management records do not indicate warning sirens sounded before people had to run for their lives. Officials sent alerts to mobile phones, televisions and radio stations, but widespread power and cellular outages may have limited their reach.

Fueled by a dry summer and strong winds from a passing hurricane, the wildfires on Maui raced through parched brush covering the island.

The most serious blaze swept into Lahaina on Tuesday and destroyed nearly every building in the town of 13,000, leaving a grid of grey rubble wedged between the blue ocean and lush green slopes.

Front Street, the heart of the historic downtown and the economic hub of Maui, was nearly empty of life Saturday morning. An Associated Press journalist encountered one barefoot resident carrying a laptop and passport who asked where the nearest shelter was. Another, riding his bicycle, took stock of the damage at the harbour, where he said his boat caught fire and sank.

A fire engine and a few construction trucks were seen driving through the neighbourhood, but it remained eerily devoid of human and official government activity. Some residents have expressed frustration about the difficulty of accessing their homes because of road closures and police checkpoints.

Maui water officials warned Lahaina and Kula residents not to drink running water, which may be contaminated even after boiling, and to only take short, lukewarm showers in well-ventilated rooms to avoid possible chemical vapour exposure.

The wildfire is already projected to be the second-costliest disaster in Hawaii’s history, behind only Hurricane Iniki in 1992, according to disaster and risk modelling firm Karen Clark & Company. The fire is the deadliest in the U.S. since the 2018 Camp Fire in California, which killed at least 85 people and destroyed the town of Paradise.

The danger on Maui was well known. Maui County’s hazard mitigation plan updated in 2020 identified Lahaina and other West Maui communities as having frequent wildfires and several buildings at risk. The report also noted West Maui had the island’s second-highest rate of households without a vehicle and the highest rate of non-English speakers.

“This may limit the population’s ability to receive, understand and take expedient action during hazard events,” the plan stated.

Maui’s firefighting efforts may have been hampered by limited staff and equipment.

Bobby Lee, president of the Hawaii Firefighters Association, said there are a maximum of 65 county firefighters working at any given time with responsibility for three islands: Maui, Molokai and Lanai.

Riley Curran said he fled his Front Street home after climbing up a neighbouring building to get a better look. He doubts county officials could have done more given the speed of the onrushing flames.

“It’s not that people didn’t try to do anything,” Curran said. “The fire went from zero to 100.”

Curran said he had seen horrendous wildfires growing up in California.

But, he added, “I’ve never seen one eat an entire town in four hours.”