By: Xenia Chen

Maui in Hawaii had a wildfire on Sunday, which caused huge damage to the people who lived there.

Early on Sunday, governor Josh Green said that this is “the worst disaster that Hawaii ever faced”. Mr. Green said: “We can only wait and support those who are living. Our focus now is to reunite people when we can and get them housing and get them healthcare, and then turn to rebuilding”.

The wildfire destroyed houses and melted cars. Because the flames were spreading too quickly, some of the people were forced to swim into the Pacific Ocean. At least 2200 buildings were destroyed or damaged in West Maui with 86% of them. Mr.Green said it will probably take an incredible amount of time to recover. Many historic trees and buildings were destroyed. The rescue teams are still searching through the neighborhood for the missing 1000 people.

This deadly wildfire has killed dozens and forced people to evacuate. Now, people gather at Kahului while waiting for flights on Wednesday.

“We don’t know what actually ignited the fires, but we were made aware in advance by the National Weather Service that we were in a red flag situation — so that’s dry conditions for a long time, so the fuel, the trees and everything, was dry,” said Maj. Gen. Kenneth Hara, commander general of the Hawaii Army National Guard. The wind that day was strong, so the fire spread faster and faster, burning everything dry.