Govt blamed for heavy death toll in Maui

KAHULUI, Hawaii — Government inaction has been blamed for the heavy loss of life in Hawaii from the deadliest US wildfire in more than a century, as the death toll ticked toward 100 on Monday.

Officials say 96 people are known to have died, but warned the figure is likely to rise as recovery crews with cadaver dogs work their way through hundreds of homes and burned-out vehicles in Lahaina.

When asked on Sunday why none of the island's sirens had been activated, Hawaii Senator Mazie Hirono said she would wait for the results of an investigation announced by the state's attorney general.

"I'm not going to make any excuses for this tragedy," Hirono, a Democrat, told CNN's State of the Union.

More than 2,200 buildings were damaged or destroyed as the fire tore through Lahaina, according to official estimates, wreaking damage to the tune of $5.5 billion and leaving thousands homeless.

"The remains we're finding are from a fire that melted metal," said Maui Police Chief John Pelletier. "When we pick up the remains …they fall apart."

That was making identification difficult, he added, appealing to those with missing relatives to give DNA samples that might speed up the process.

Pelletier said cadaver dogs still had a vast area to search in the hunt for what could still be hundreds of people who are unaccounted for.

The wildfire is the deadliest in the United States since 1918, when 453 people died in Minnesota and Wisconsin, according to the nonprofit research group National Fire Protection Association.

Questions are being asked about how prepared authorities were for the catastrophe, despite the islands' exposure to natural hazards.

In its emergency management plan last year, the State of Hawaii described the risk wildfires posed to people as being "low".

Yet the layers of warning that are intended to buffer a citizenry if disaster strikes appear not to have operated.

Maui suffered numerous power outages during the crisis, preventing many residents from receiving emergency alerts on their cellphones.

No emergency sirens sounded, and many Lahaina residents spoke of learning about the blaze from neighbors running down the street or seeing it for themselves.

The New York Times reported on Sunday that firefighters sent to tackle the flames found some hydrants had run dry.

"There was just no water in the hydrants," the paper quoted firefighter Keahi Ho as saying.

Agencies Via Xinhua