The official death toll from the Maui wildfires has risen to 106, Hawaiian officials said on Tuesday, a figure that is expected to climb as teams continue to search ruins left in the fire’s wake and as officials release the first names of people killed by the blaze.
Davilynn Severson and Hano Ganer look for belongings through the ashes of their family's home in ... [+]
Maui County on Tuesday confirmed the deaths of Robert Dyckman, 74, and Buddy Jantoc, 79, in a news release, both of whom were residents of the fire-ravaged Lahaina area of Maui.
The statement said their next of kin have been identified and asked the media and public to “respect the privacy of the grieving families.”
“As a community, we offer our prayers of comfort in this most difficult time,” said Mayor Richard Bissen.
Another three victims have already been identified but will not be publicly named until officials have contacted their relatives, the county said.
“Maui Police Department and assisting partners have been working tirelessly to ensure that proper protocols are followed while notifying the families of the victims involved,” the county said in a statement. “The County of Maui’s priority is to handle this situation with the utmost sensitivity and respect for those who are grieving.”
It is likely to be some time before the full scale of the wildfire’s devastation is known and the fire is already the deadliest in recent U.S. history. Hawaii Governor Josh Green said the death toll, up from 99 on Monday, is likely to keep climbing as search crews continue to comb through the rubble and could even double over the next 10 days. Speaking to CBS on Monday, Green estimated crews could find around “10 to 20 people per day probably until they finish.” Around 1,300 people are still missing and about 32% of the wildfire-affected areas have been searched so far. Officials say the searched area should encompass around 85 to 90% of hit regions by the weekend. Cadaver dogs and dozens of searchers have been deployed in the search effort.
Identifying everyone lost in the wildfire will be a difficult and painstaking task. Identification specialists told the BBC a full accounting could take months or even years. The process is hindered by several factors, such as difficulties collecting remains under such hazardous conditions and the condition these remains may be in. Visual identification by relatives and the use of items like wallets and bags near sets of remains is considered unreliable and the very high temperatures may have destroyed fingerprints and other identifiable features. Additionally, the kinds of records typically used for identification—such as dental records—may have been destroyed in the fire as well. Officials have suggested people submit DNA samples to help with the identification effort.
Biden Announces Visit To Hawaii Wildfire Site After Criticisms Over His Slow Public Response (Forbes)
99 Killed In Hawaii Fire And 1,300 Missing As Governor Warns Death Toll Expected To Rise (Forbes)
Hawaii wildfires: Why identifying the victims could take years (BBC)