The death toll from the deadliest US wildfire in more than a century, which destroyed the historic town of Lahaina on the Hawaiian island of Maui last year, has risen to 102.
The death toll from the deadliest U.S. wildfire in more than a century, which destroyed the historic town of Lahaina on the Hawaiian island of Maui last year, has risen to 102, authorities said Monday.
Claudette Heermance, 68, died March 28 at a hospice in Honolulu as a result of the fire. Maui police announced the death, citing information from the Honolulu medical examiner’s office.
Heermance suffered burns to 20 percent of her body and her case was complicated by multiple other conditions, said Dr. Masahiko Kobayashi, the Honolulu medical examiner.
She was initially taken to a Maui hospital the day of the fire, but was flown to Oahu the next day to be treated in the state’s only burn unit. Almost four months later she went to hospice.
Other causes of death included cardiovascular disease, end-stage renal disease and pressure ulcers, said another official from the medical examiner’s office, who declined to give her name.
The August 8 wildfire was already the deadliest to hit the United States in more than a century. The flames swept through the historic city of Lahaina, burning about 3,000 buildings and displacing 12,000 residents.
Many were unable to get out in time to escape the fire. Some jumped into the ocean to seek refuge from the flames.
Officials confirmed the 101st death in February.
The fire victims ranged in age from 7 to 97, but more than two-thirds were in their 60s or older, according to the Maui Police Department’s list of known victims.
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First print: June 25, 2024 | 10:51 am IST