HAWAII INFERNO 'Maui can't handle this ... This is going to be devastating for Maui.'
People on the Hawaiian island of Maui had to jump into the ocean Tuesday to escape flames and smoke from a wind-fueled wildfire, authorities said. The Coast Guard told CBS News it had rescued a dozen people in the town of Lahaina who turned to the water as refuge. The wildfire was widespread in Lahaina, including Front Street, an area of the historic town popular with tourists, County of Maui spokesperson Mahina Martin said in a phone interview with the Associated Press early Wednesday.
The National Weather Service said Hurricane Dora, which was passing to the south of the island chain at a safe distance of hundreds of miles, was partly to blame for gusts up to 80 mph that knocked out power as night fell, rattled homes and grounded firefighting helicopters.as of late Tuesday night Hawaii time.
Fire crews on Maui were battling multiple blazes concentrated in two areas: the popular tourist destination of West Maui and an inland, mountainous region. It wasn't immediately known how many buildings had burned, County of Maui spokesperson Mahina Martin said in a phone interview late Tuesday.Any one on Twitter have a connection for a place to stay on Maui?
"The fire can be a mile or more from your house, but in a minute or two, it can be at your house," Fire Assistant Chief Jeff Giesea said.Hawaii is sandwiched between high pressure to the north and a low pressure system associated with Dora, explained Jeff Powell, a meteorologist in Honolulu. The dryness and the gusts"make a dangerous fire situation so that fires that do exist can spread out of control very rapidly," he said.
she could see flames advancing as she headed to an emergency shelter."There were branches falling down on us, small ones but enough that I sped up," she said.
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