Laurie Allen is now among the at least 98 people who died when a blaze destroyed the historic Hawaii town in August
A woman who escaped a wildfire that destroyed Hawaii community by running through a burning field has died after spending more than seven weeks in a hospital burn unit.
Laurie Allen died Friday at Straub Medical Center in Honolulu, according to a GoFundMe page set up for her and her husband, Perry Allen.
Continue reading...Police chief confirmed number of missing had also dropped from 41 to 31 and that 74 of the deceased had been identified
The number of confirmed fatalities from the Maui wildfires is at least 97 people, a lower death toll than what officials had previously announced, Hawaii governor Josh Green said in an interview on CNN on Friday.
State leaders said last month that at least 115 people had died in the 8 August blaze but on Friday said new testing showed they were counting multiple DNA samples from some of the victims. John Pelltier, the Maui police chief, said in a press conference that the number of missing people had also dropped from 41 to 31. And so far, 74 of the deceased have been positively identified.
Continue reading...Josh Green, the state governor, approved $25m for business recovery and said Maui will reopen for tourism on 8 October
One month after the deadliest US wildfire in more than a century leveled the historic town of Lahaina, the governor of Hawaii, Josh Green, said Friday that the number of missing has dropped to 66, the confirmed death toll remains at 115 and authorities will soon escort residents on visits to their property.
Tens of millions of dollars in aid will make its way to families and businesses as they recover, Green said, and beginning 8 October, travel restrictions will end and West Maui will reopen to visitors.
Continue reading...Unprecedented drought in British Columbia could usher in a fresh set of natural disasters, including devastating floods
A season of record-breaking wildfires in British Columbia is nearly over, but officials in the Canadian province have warned that a persistent drought in the Canadian province is a “sleeping giant” which could usher in a fresh set of natural disasters, including devastating floods in the coming months.
Bowinn Ma, British Columbia’s emergency management minister said this week the unprecedented drought has the full attention of senior government officials as the region enters the “home stretch” of the province’s unprecedented wildfire season. Hundreds of blazes tore across the province this summer, leaving crews exhausted and broken, and scorching an estimated 2.2m hectares of land.
Continue reading...The photographer Gideon Mendel travelled to Rhodes a month after the fires as part of his Burning World project. He sought to document the impact on lives and landscapes
July 2023 was the hottest month ever recorded, and Rhodes in Greece was one of many places that faced scorching temperatures and wildfires. There were no human casualties but the fire ravaged about 135,000 hectares of forest and vegetation, burned more than 50,000 olive trees and many domestic animals, destroyed about 50 homes and led to the mass evacuation of tourists from the area.
I travelled to the region a month after the fires, making new work for my Burning World project. I choose not to document the flames but rather seek out their aftermath, the traces left behind on lives and landscapes.
The Ekaterini hotel in Kiotari, south Rhodes
Continue reading...Winfrey says direct cash assistance aims to support those affected as they determine what ‘rebuilding looks like for them’
Oprah Winfrey and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson have launched a relief fund for the Maui wildfires with an initial $10m donation.
The People’s Fund of Maui, a fund within the Entertainment Industry Foundation, will distribute direct cash assistance to those affected by the wildfires in Maui, which killed at least 115 people earlier this month and devastated the towns of Kula and Lahaina. The fund, supported by public donations and the initial grant by Winfrey and Johnson, plans to provide $1,200 a month to anyone over the age of 18 who lost their primary residence in the fires, including renters and excluding property owners who do not reside in the residence.
Continue reading...Land privatization and water depletion set the stage for the Lahaina fire 150 years ago. Now, land companies may benefit even more
In the late 18th century, when the Hawaiian Kingdom became a sovereign state, Lahaina carried such an abundance of water that early explorers reportedly anointed it “Venice of the Pacific”. A glut of natural wetlands nourished breadfruit trees, extensive taro terraces and fishponds that sustained wildlife and generations of Native Hawaiian families.
But more than a century and a half of plantation agriculture, driven by American and European colonists, have depleted Lahaina’s streams and turned biodiverse food forests into tinderboxes. Today, Hawaii spends $3bn a year importing up to 90% of its food. This altered ecology, experts say, gave rise to the 8 August blaze that decimated the historic west Maui town and killed more than 111 people.
Continue reading...Gale-force winds and hot, dry conditions whip up flames and hamper firefighting efforts
More than 600 firefighters, including reinforcements from several European countries, backed by a fleet of water-dropping planes and helicopters, are battling three major wildfires in Greece, two of which have been raging for days.
A huge blaze in the country’s north-eastern regions of Evros and Alexandroupolis, believed to have caused the deaths of 20 of the 21 wildfire-related deaths in the last week, was burning for a ninth day.
Continue reading...One man confessed to having set four other fires on island of Evia as Greek authorities struggle to contain blazes
Fire department officials in Greece have arrested two men for allegedly starting wildfires on purpose, while hundreds of firefighters battled blazes that have killed at least 21 people in the past week.
One man was arrested on the Greek island of Evia for allegedly setting fire to dried grass in the Karystos area. The fire department said the man confessed to having set four other fires in the area in July and August.
Continue reading...Nearly 1,000 people in Merryville, in Beauregard parish close to Texas border, ordered to evacuate as Tiger Island fire burns nearby
A rare uncontrollable wildfire in Louisiana has forced nearly 1,000 residents to evacuate the town of Merryville in Beauregard parish, near the state’s border with Texas.
“Get out now!” the Beauregard parish sheriff’s office wrote on social media.
Continue reading...Amnesty links wildfires and lack of legal migration routes to deaths of 19 people believed to be asylum seekers
Refugees and migrants in Greece are facing off against the “two great injustices of our times”, Amnesty International has said, as it linked wildfires and scant access to legal migration routes to the deaths of 19 people believed to be asylum seekers.
As wildfires continue to rage across swathes of Greece, authorities in the country said they were working to identify the charred remains of 18 people found this week in the dense forests that straddle the country’s north-eastern border with Turkey.
Continue reading...Burning of fossil fuels made fires at least twice as likely, and the fire-prone weather at least 20% more intense, study shows
The conditions that caused Canada’s extreme spate of wildfires this year, which resulted in parts of the US and Canada to be blanketed in toxic smoke, were made at least twice as likely due to the human-caused climate crisis, scientists have found.
The 2023 Canadian wildfire season has been the largest, and most devastating, on record, with nearly 14m hectares (34m acres) burned, an area larger than Greece. The extent of these fires, more than double the size of the previous record, caused more than a dozen fatalities and thousands of evacuations, and sent a plume of smoke that unfurled as far as Norway and, for a time in June, turned the sky above New York City orange.
Continue reading...Officials working to identify people found in Alexandroupolis region as firefighters battle second wave of fires
The bodies of 18 people have been found in an area of north-east Greece where firefighters are battling a major wildfire, authorities have said, as a record-breaking late summer heatwave continues to sear swathes of continental Europe.
Hundreds of firefighters were struggling on Tuesday to contain dozens of outbreaks, including several that have burned out of control for days and forced widespread evacuations, in the second deadly wave of blazes in Greece in a month.
Continue reading...More than 35,000 residents under evacuation orders across province, while flames are being held at bay 15km from Yellowknife in Northwest Territories
Canada will send in armed forces to tackle fast-spreading wildfires in British Columbia, prime minister Justin Trudeau has said, as more than 35,000 people were put under evacuation orders in the western province.
British Columbia imposed a state of emergency late on Friday, giving officials more power to deal with fire risks. The main fire was centered around Kelowna, a city 300km (180 miles) east of Vancouver with a population of about 150,000.
Continue reading...Canary Islands regional president opens inquiry into fire, while people flee from four Greek villages
An out-of-control wildfire on Tenerife that has forced thousands to flee was started deliberately, authorities have said, as four more villages in Greece were evacuated in the face of another advancing blaze and more than half of mainland France was on extreme heat alert.
As much of southern Europe continues to roast after July was named the world’s hottest month on record, the Canary Islands regional president, Fernando Clavijo, said on Sunday that police had confirmed the blaze raging on the Spanish island since Tuesday had been lit intentionally, and had opened three separate lines of inquiry.
Continue reading...Minister says it is a matter of life and death for residents near city of Kelowna, as drone operators warned against ‘irresponsible’ activity in fire areas
Officials in the Canadian province of British Columbia have implored tens of thousands of residents to heed warnings and evacuate from areas threatened by “severe and fast-changing” wildfires, and urged “irresponsible” wildfire tourists to stop flying drones in the area.
“We cannot stress strongly enough how critical it is to follow evacuation orders when they are issued,” Bowinn Ma, the province’s minister of emergency management, said on Saturday. “They are a matter of life and death not only for the people in those properties, but also for the first responders who will often go back to try to implore people to leave.”
Continue reading...Evacuations ordered after wind-fueled blaze expands unchecked near eastern city of Spokane and shuts highway
A wind-driven wildfire in eastern Washington state has destroyed at least 185 structures, closed a major highway and left one person dead, authorities have said.
The blaze began shortly after midday on Friday on the west side of Medical Lake, about 15 miles (24km) west of Spokane, and then expanded, state Department of Natural Resources spokesperson Isabelle Hoygaard said on Saturday.
Continue reading...Premier says days ahead will be ‘extremely challenging’, as firefighters in neighbouring Northwest Territories fight to save city
The premier of the Canadian province of British Columbia has declared a state of emergency, saying authorities there were “facing the worst wildfire season ever”, as thousands were evacuated from cities east of Vancouver.
Premier David Eby said on Friday night: “Over the past 24 hours, the situation has evolved rapidly and we are in for an extremely challenging situation in the days ahead.”
Continue reading...Firefighters work around clock to spread retardant and dig fire breaks as thousands evacuate capital of Northwest Territories
Fire crews are working around the clock to dig fuel breaks, spread fire retardant and drop water from the air in emergency efforts to stop a vast wildfire from destroying the capital city of Canada’s Northwest Territories (NWT).
Teams used backhoes and bulldozers to carve out huge 100m x 15,000m fuel breaks in the surrounding forests, removing trees and brush in hopes of stopping the 1,670 sq km (644 sq mile) blaze from reaching Yellowknife.
Continue reading...Canada’s ongoing fight with social media company Meta and the resulting ban has led to difficulties with staying on top of information
Communication issues, fast-spreading rumours and a Facebook news ban have all disrupted evacuation efforts by residents of Yellowknife, in Canada’s Northwest Territories, as they race to leave the city before an out-of-control wildfire hits in the coming day or so.
On Wednesday night, officials told the city’s 20,000 residents they had to be out by Friday at noon (1900 BST) before a massive wildfire gets any closer.
Continue reading...