A seven-year-old boy has been found dead in a burnt-out car in Maui amid fears that children will make up a large portion of those killed in the devastating wildfires.
The death toll from the fires rose to 111 Wednesday night, but lawmaker Elle Cochran, who sits in the Hawaii House of Representatives, said it could reach hundreds as searches continue.
Cochran fears many of the dead may be children because many schools in Lahaina, the historic city that was devastated, were closed on the day of the fires due to power outages. Many children stayed home while their parents were at work and may have been trapped and killed.
A kindergarten teacher in Lahaina said a seven-year-old boy — who is the cousin of two of her former students — was found dead with his family in a burnt-out car.
Jessica Sill, who teaches at King Kamehameha III Elementary School, told the Wall Street Journal, “Our parents work one, two, three jobs to make ends meet and they can’t afford to take a day off.
The death toll from the fires rose to 111 Wednesday night, but lawmaker Elle Cochran, who sits in Hawaii’s House of Representatives, said it is likely to rise significantly and she fears many will be children
Jessica Sill, who teaches at King Kamehameha III Elementary School, said, “Without school, (kids) couldn’t go anywhere that day”
Burnt-out cars and destroyed buildings are pictured in the aftermath of a wildfire in Lahaina, western Maui, Hawaii on August 11, 2023
“Without school, (children) couldn’t go anywhere that day.”
Public schools on Maui have begun the process of reopening and traffic has also resumed on a main road, signaling that the painful recovery process is underway.
At least three schools in Lahaina, where entire neighborhoods were reduced to ashes, were still being assessed after wind damage, said Superintendent Keith Hayashi of the Hawaiian Department of Education.
“There’s still a lot of work to be done, but overall the campuses and classrooms are structurally sound, which is encouraging,” Hayashi said in a video update.
“We know that the recovery effort is still in its infancy and we continue to mourn the many lives lost.”
Elsewhere, crews cleared ash and debris from schools and tested air and water quality.
Displaced students enrolling in those campuses will have access to services such as meals and counseling, Hayashi said. The education department also provides guidance to students, family members and employees.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency opened its first emergency recovery center on Maui, “an important first step” in helping residents get information about relief, FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell said.
At a press conference, Herman Andaya, administrator of the Maui Emergency Management Agency, defended the failure to sound sirens during the fire.
“We were concerned that people would have turned mauka,” he said, using the Hawaiian directional term that can mean toward the mountains or inland.
“If that was the case, they would have started the fire.”
There are no sirens in the mountains, where the fire spread downhill.
Hawaii created what it calls the largest system of outdoor alarm sirens in the world after a tsunami in 1946 killed more than 150 people.
Andaya said they are primarily for tsunami warning and have never been used for wildfires. The website for the Maui Siren System says they can be used to warn of fires.
Aside from the decision not to use sirens, state and local officials have faced public criticism over a shortage of water available to fight the fire and a chaotic evacuation that left many trapped in their vehicles on a gridlocked road as the flames spread. beat over them.
An aerial view of Lahaina shows the magnitude of the devastation caused by the wildfires in Hawaii
Survivors gathered for a Sunday church service at the Maui Coffee Attic in Wailuku, Maui. The Grace Baptist Church burned down in the wildfire
Avery Dagupion, whose family home was destroyed, is angry that residents were not warned earlier to leave and that officials prematurely suggested the danger had passed.
He pointed to an announcement from Maui Mayor Richard Bissen on Aug. 8, saying the fire was under control and “raising false hopes among the residents of Lahaina,” when the fire exploded hours later.
That, he said, put people to sleep with a sense of security and adds to the distrust he and others now have of officials’ efforts.
At the press conference, Governor Josh Green and Bissen were outraged when asked about that distrust and how they can assure the public that they will do whatever it takes to rebuild the community.
‘Were mistakes made? Absolutely,” the governor said, later adding, “You can look here to see who you can trust,” referring to police, fire, emergency services and Red Cross officials standing behind him.
“I can’t answer why people don’t trust people,” Bissen said. “The people trying to put out these fires lived in those houses — 25 of our firefighters lost their homes. Do you think they did a half job?’
With the death toll rising by four since Tuesday, a mobile morgue unit with additional coroners has been deployed to assist.