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A devastating wildfire has swept through Maui, causing the loss of six lives and widespread destruction of homes and businesses in this popular tourist destination.
This wildfire is part of a particularly active season for wildfires in the northern hemisphere, with smoke from vast Canadian forest fires reaching New York earlier this summer.
Over the course of Tuesday and Wednesday, firefighters in Maui battled multiple fires, both in the western part of the island and in a mountainous inland area. One of the affected areas was Lahaina, a town with a rich historical significance for tourists.
Acting governor Sylvia Luke declared a state of emergency in Hawaii on Wednesday.
The mayor of Maui County, Richard Bissen, confirmed the death toll of six and expressed uncertainty about the number of damaged homes and businesses. Search and rescue teams continue to search for survivors.
The cause of the fire remains unknown, but it is believed to have started due to prolonged dry conditions.
Efforts to extinguish the fires have been impeded by high winds caused by a nearby hurricane. These conditions have made it impossible for firefighters to deploy helicopters.
Hurricane Dora, passing 500 miles south of Maui, is partially responsible for the strong gusts exceeding 60 miles per hour, leading to power outages and grounded firefighting aircraft.
At around 5pm Eastern Time, approximately 13,000 people were without power across the state, as reported by PowerOutage.com.
These fires come at a time of record-breaking heat for June and July. Scientists from the EU’s earth observation agency have noted significant wildfire activity in Greece, Algeria, Italy, and the far east of Russia.
Canada has experienced the burning of 13 million hectares of boreal forest this year, resulting in the release of 290 megatonnes of carbon into the atmosphere. There are still over 1,000 active fires across the country, with more than 600 classified as “out of control,” according to data from the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre.
In a research note, Copernicus, the EU’s earth observation agency, attributes the record-breaking scale of the 2023 wildfires to warm and dry weather conditions intensified by climate change.
The US Drought Monitor has reported moderate drought conditions across much of western Maui.
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