Tag: Wildfires

Greek fire officials arrest 2 for arson as multiple wildfires continue to burn across the country

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ATHENS, Greece — Fire department officials in Greece arrested two men Saturday 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.

A second man arrested in the Larissa area of central Greece also was accused of intentionally setting fire to dried vegetation.

Officials have said blamed arson for several fires in Greece over the past week, although it was unclear what sparked the country’s largest blazes, including one in the northeastern region of Evros, where nearly all the fire-attributed deaths occurred, and another on the fringes of Athens.

“Some … arsonists are setting fires, endangering forests, property and above all human lives,” Climate Crisis and Civil Protection Minister Vassilis Kikilias said Thursday. “What is happening is not just unacceptable, but despicable and criminal.”

The minister said nine fires were set in the space of four hours Thursday morning in the Avlona area in the northern foothills of Mount Parnitha, a mountain on the northwestern fringes of Athens that is one of the capital’s last green areas.

A major fire was already burning on the southern side of the mountain at the time, and it continued to burn Saturday.

“You are committing a crime against the country,” Kikilias said. “We will find you. You will be held accountable to justice.”

Later Thursday, police arrested a 45-year-old man on suspicion of arson for allegedly setting at least three fires in the Avlona area. A search of his home revealed kindling, a fire torch gun and pine needles, police said.

A daily outbreak of dozens of fires has plagued Greece over the past week as gale-force winds and hot, dry summer conditions combine to whip up flames and hamper firefighting efforts. Firefighters tackled 111 blazes Friday, including 59 that broke out in the 24 hours between Thursday and Friday evenings, the fire department said.

Although most new fires were controlled in their early stages, some grew to massive blazes that have consumed homes and vast tracts of forest.

Storms were forecast Saturday for some areas of Greece, and lightning strikes ignited several fires near the Greek capital. The fire department said 100 firefighters, including contingents from France and Cyprus, backed up by four helicopter, brought fires in four outlying areas near the Greek capital under partial control within hours.

The fire department called on the public “to be particularly careful” and to follow directions by authorities “given that intense thunderstorm activity is occurring in various parts of the country.”

The Evros fire, Greece’s largest current blaze, was burning for an eighth day Saturday near the city of Alexandroupolis after causing at least 20 deaths.

Firefighters found 18 bodies in a forest on Tuesday, one on Monday and another Thursday. With nobody reported missing in the area, authorities think the victims might have been migrants who recently crossed the border from Turkey.

Greece’s Disaster Victim Identification Team was activated to identify the remains, and a telephone hotline set up for potential relatives of the victims to call. A man reportedly trying to save his livestock from advancing flames in central Greece also died on Monday.

More than 290 firefighters, backed by five planes and two helicopters, were battling the Evros blaze. Another 260 firefighters, four planes and three helicopters were tackling the Mount Parnitha fire.

With firefighting forces stretched to the limit, Greece called on other European countries for help. Germany, Sweden, Croatia and Cyprus sent aircraft, while dozens of Romanian, French, Czech, Bulgarian, Albanian and Slovak firefighters helped on the ground.

Greece imposes wildfire prevention regulations, typically from the start of May to the end of October, to limit activities such as the burning of dried vegetation and the use of outdoor barbecues.

Since the start of this year’s fire season, fire department officials have arrested 163 people on fire-related charges, government spokesman Pavlos Marinakis said Friday, including 118 for negligence and 24 for deliberate arson. The police made a further 18 arrests, he said.

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August 26, 2023
As hundreds remain missing in Maui, electric company admits evidence to determine how wildfires started may have been compromised | CNN

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CNN
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Hundreds of people are still listed as unaccounted for after this month’s devastating wildfires on Maui – a number that’s expected to change as the FBI continues vetting names.

The “validated list” curated by the FBI currently includes 388 names, Maui County said Thursday, as cell phone data is now being used to try to pinpoint where victims may have been when the deadliest US wildfire disaster in more than 100 years tore through the Hawaiian island. At least 115 people are confirmed dead, though authorities say that number is likely to change.

The FBI on Friday acknowledged the list of names was “a subset of a larger list” of people who are believed to be missing. Steven Merrill, the bureau’s special agent in charge in Hawaii, said those currently on the list are people who authorities had more complete information about. Since the list was released, they’ve gotten “at least 100 people that have notified us that a certain person shouldn’t be on the list,” Merrill said – so the number of those still unaccounted for is expected to change.

As the race to identify the lost continues, the state’s main electrical utility stands accused of compromising evidence in the fire investigation, and Maui County officials have followed others in suing the company over responsibility for the fire. First responders also are pressing for answers about why they weren’t better prepared after a similar ruinous fire five years ago.

The updated list of the missing was released with hopes of confirming anyone who’s not truly still lost, officials said.

“We’re releasing this list of names today because we know that it will help with the investigation,” Police Chief John Pelletier said in the release. “We also know that once those names come out, it can and will cause pain for folks whose loved ones are listed. This is not an easy thing to do, but we want to make sure that we are doing everything we can to make this investigation as complete and thorough as possible.”

Pelletier said Friday that since the names were released, authorities have received hundreds of calls. Authorities would like to do a weekly update on the list of missing people to help notify the public, he said.

The FBI has worked with agencies “to unduplicate people that have been reported missing,” Hawaii Gov. Josh Green said earlier Thursday in a social media post. Some 800 to 1,200 people have been listed as unaccounted for since the fires, he said.

The grim search for those believed missing began shortly after wind-whipped flames tore through the island on August 8. Much of the western Maui community of Lahaina – once a lively economic and cultural hub – was left in ruins, with entire neighborhoods and businesses reduced to ash. Some residents were forced to jump into the ocean to survive as flames overtook the town.

Search crews and cadaver dogs have searched 100% of single-story homes in the disaster area, Maui County officials said Tuesday. They are now going through multistory homes and commercial properties.

And an FBI team that specializes in using cell phone data has launched in Maui to help identify potential fire victims, a law enforcement source told CNN. The Cellular Analysis Survey Team was on the island working with local law enforcement, the official said.

The team can get and analyze cell phone company subscriber records and cellular tower registration data, which could prove useful to the search efforts by geolocating the last known area where a victim’s cell phone was operating.

The team in the past has used information obtained through court orders to help with terrorism, kidnapping and criminal investigations.

“Cellular telephone analysis” is among the resources being provided by the bureau, Steven Merrill, special agent in charge of the FBI’s office in Hawaii, said during news conference Tuesday without giving specifics.

Additionally, Maui County has named a new interim administrator of the Maui Emergency Management Agency after its prior chief resigned from the post August 17.

In announcing Darryl Oliveira’s hiring Friday, Maui County Mayor Richard Bissen said he has a track record of “invaluable experience and skill during challenging times.”

Oliveira, who previously served as the administrator of the Hawaii County Civil Defense Agency, is expected to begin leading the county’s emergency agency Monday.

In pictures: The deadly Maui wildfires

As the human toll of the fire comes into focus, investigators also are trying to determine what sparked the flames, and while no official cause has been announced, the Hawaiian Electric Company is facing scrutiny over its actions before and after the fires broke out.

Some evidence potentially vital in determining the cause of the deadly fire in Lahaina may have been compromised, Hawaiian Electric Company (HECO) acknowledged in an exchange with attorneys included in court documents obtained by CNN.

The company said fallen power poles, power lines and other equipment were moved during firefighting efforts and as officials worked to make the area safe for residents, according to letters part of a class action lawsuit. The company told attorneys, who are representing Lahaina residents in the class action suit, that it was “possible, even likely” that evidence that “relate(s) to the cause of the fire” might be lost, correspondence obtained by CNN shows.

The equipment was removed from the area around the Lahaina substation – which is thought to be where the blaze started – before federal investigators arrived.

Those actions could have violated national guidelines, which say the fire scenes should be heavily preserved for investigators and any and all evidence should be secured and not removed from the site without documentation, court documents filed by attorneys say.

The ATF said on August 17 that its National Response Team was being deployed to Hawaii to help determine the cause and origin of the deadly fire – days after the utility company acknowledged equipment and evidence had likely been moved or lost.

On August 10 – two days after the wildfire devastated the town of Lahaina, a group of attorneys notified the utility of anticipated litigation and requested that all electrical equipment that may relate to the origin of the fire – including power poles, lines and conductors – be preserved.

An attorney for Hawaiian Electric responded on August 11 that some potential evidence may have already been compromised during the firefight, not by the utility itself, but by others.

John Moore, an attorney for the utility wrote to attorneys for the families on August 11 that the company’s main focus was the safety of first responders and displaced residents and restoring power.

The company also noted it was taking steps to preserve property but local, state and federal agencies were on the ground and it was possible “that the actions of these third parties, whose actions Hawaiian Electric does not control, may result in the loss of property or other items that relate to the cause of the fire.”

The families’ attorneys then submitted a request for a temporary restraining order to stop Hawaiian Electric from altering the scene where it’s believed the Lahaina fire started, court documents show.

A judge signed an interim discovery order on August 18, detailing how the company should handle evidence around the scene, including preserving and protecting all physical evidence within a defined area and refraining from destructive testing.

The order also specified that it was not making any findings of any wrongdoing at this time.

The class action lawsuit was filed several days after the fires ignited alleging Hawaiian Electric failed to deenergize power lines ahead of the fire despite high wind and red flag warnings. The cause of the fire has not yet been determined. It is believed to have ignited near a power substation where “where authorities reported a downed power line early on August 8, 2023,” the complaint says.

Hawaiian Electric vice president Jim Kelly previously told CNN that, “as has always been our policy, we don’t comment on pending litigation.”

“At this early stage, the cause of the fire has not been determined and we will work with the state and county as they conduct their review,” he said.

Hawaiian Electric has been “in regular communication with ATF and local authorities and are cooperating to provide them, as well as attorneys representing people affected by the wildfires, with inventories and access to the removed equipment, which we have carefully photographed, documented and stored,” spokesman Darren Pai told The Washington Post.

CNN has requested further comment on the potentially compromised evidence.

The ATF’s National Response Team, which is investigating the cause of the fire, declined to comment.

While the investigation continues, Maui County officials made their position clear in a lawsuit filed Thursday, claiming “the negligence, carelessness, and recklessness, and/or unlawfulness” of Hawaiian Electric Company and its subsidiaries is directly responsible for the fires.

The utility, known as HECO, “inexcusably kept their power lines energized” in early August, despite the National Weather Service issuing a High Wind Watch and a Fire Warning, the lawsuit alleges. The warnings cautioned that strong winds could knock down power lines and ignite a fire that would spread quickly due to dry conditions, the lawsuit indicated.

Maui County is seeking damages from HECO that may total tens or hundreds of millions of dollars, said John Fiske, an attorney representing the county in the suit.

“Our primary focus in the wake of this unimaginable tragedy has been to do everything we can to support not just the people of Maui, but also Maui County. We are very disappointed that Maui County chose this litigious path while the investigation is still unfolding,” a spokesperson from Hawaiian Electric told CNN in a statement.

Hawaiian Electric Company serves 95% of the state’s customer base.

As of Thursday, officials still were tracking at least three active fires on Maui, including the Lahaina fire, which was 90% contained after burning more than 2,170 acres. The Olinda fire, which has burned an estimated 1,081 acres, was 85% contained, and the Kula fire was also 85% contained, with just over 200 acres burned, county officials said.

And even as fire crews work to find and contain hot spots, a Hawaii police union official said firefighters “were set up for failure” ahead of the outbreak.

Following a destructive wildfire that broke out in 2018 under similar conditions in the same area, no wildfire management or other preventative methods were taken to mitigate future disasters, Nicholas Krau, the Maui Chapter Chair for the State of Hawaii Organization of Police Officers, told CNN.

“We all knew this was going to happen again. While no one could have predicted this much destruction or loss of life, we all knew there would be another destructive fire that would threaten these same businesses and homes again,” Krau said. “I don’t know who’s responsible for preventing wildland fires and managing the private owned land where the fire started, but they should definitely answer for it.”

More than 2,000 acres burned and 20 homes were damaged in the 2018 fire, county officials have said.

Many police officers who helped with evacuations this month suffered smoke inhalation because they didn’t have proper respiratory protection, even after it was requested following previous fires, Krau said.

“If someone needs help, (the police) are going to rush in and do everything they can to help. But the department and county of Maui have the obligation to properly equip them,” he said.

CNN has reached out to Maui County and the Maui Police Department for comment on Krau’s claims.

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August 26, 2023
Hawaii’s cherished notion of family, the ‘ohana, endures in tragedy’s aftermath

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LAHAINA, Hawaii — Families were torn asunder. A community is reeling with grief. More than 100 people have perished and hundreds more remain missing after flames and smoke barreled from the hills and annihilated the historic town of Lahaina.

But even in places overwhelmed by despair and devastation, the Hawaiian spirit known as ‘ohana endures.

In the Hawaiian lexicon, ‘ohana is a sensibility, a way of thinking that means family, belonging, community and so much more — solace in a time of calamity. It is a unifying principle in an increasingly fragmented world. And in recent weeks, amid misfortune, the word has taken on profound importance in a place appealing for help.

“In times like this, ‘ohana gets stronger,” says Dustin Kaleiopu, whose Maui roots date back to when monarchs ruled the islands.

The kanaka of Hawaii, the Native Hawaiians who inhabit the islands, value ’ohana, which extends beyond the familial ties of blood. It is a life nourished by kinship.

“In a small town like Lahaina, we all know each other. We’ve all grown up together,” says Kaleiopu, whose ‘ohana came to his aid after he and his grandfather escaped the flames that turned their home into a mound of ash and charred debris. ”It’s such a tight-knit community.”

TESTING THE BONDS OF ‘OHANA

Finding grace and solace can be almost unimaginable when the very world around you is burning. This is what Lahaina faces today as the smoke begins to clear.

Thousands of other homes are gone. At least 115 people are confirmed dead. And by some counts, nearly 400 of Lahaina’s residents remain unaccounted for: fathers and mothers, husbands and wives, brothers and sisters, young and old, friends and neighbors — all part of someone’s ’ohana.

“There’s plenty of families who’ve been displaced by the fire. So we’re going to take care of our community as much as possible. So in this sense, our community is the ’ohana,” says Kapali Keahi, whose family has lived on Maui for generations.

In the days, and now weeks, after the deadliest wildfire in the United States in more than a century, families who lost homes and possessions continue to depend on the generosity of relatives, friends and even strangers. Shipments of food, clothes and everyday necessities keep arriving from the state’s other islands, including Oahu, home to Honolulu.

Online fundraisers, many set up by displaced families, have raised hundreds of thousands of dollars, much of it from distant places. One relief fund has well surpassed $1.2 million, its 6,400 donors hailing from every part of the globe.

So much of Lahaina has been lost. Left behind are people in deep despair, said Kekai Keahi, another Lahaina resident. One thing, though, remained strong: a connecting strand.

“‘Ohana was never lost. It never left,” he said. “We will always come to each other’s aid.”

Keahi spoke as Hawaiian flags fluttered near the ocean and a Native Hawaiian group calling itself Na ‘Ohana o Lele — the ‘ohana of Lahaina — gathered at a beachside park to speak on behalf of their community.

The message from the group was clear: There will be talk of rebuilding, yes, but families need time to grieve and begin healing before any of that begins.

Archie Kalepa, a surfing legend and revered member of Maui’s Native Hawaiian community, urged his ‘ohana to honor core values. “Love your family, take care of the land,” he said, “and you’ll rebuild your community.”

MANY PEOPLE FROM MANY PLACES, UNITED

The community of 13,000 people included immigrants from many parts of the world. Here, they find common ground.

No matter where they came from, no matter when they arrived, transplants are soon charmed by Hawaii’s culture, a melange of imported customs and traditions melded together by ways in existence long before the British imperialist and explorer Capt. James Cook came across the Hawaiian archipelago nearly 250 years ago while crossing the Pacific.

As they assimilate, newcomers pick up the oft-spoken vocabulary intrinsic to island life. “Mahalo” conveys gratitude, admiration and respect. “Aloha” is for hello and goodbye, or for love and affection — a word with the warmth of a hug and the beauty of a lei.

Then there is ’ohana. As the movie “Lilo & Stitch” defined it, “’ohana means family, and family means nobody is left behind or forgotten.”

With so many dead or missing, a sentiment like that is ripe to resonate across a community coping with loss.

“It’s all about family out here,” says Mike Tomas, whose immediate family lost their home in the fire. They are sheltering in the homes of friends and relatives. He had planned to move with his girlfriend to Texas sometime in the fall, but they will now depart much sooner.

“Nothing’s left here,” he says. Not even the clothes and belongings they had begun packing. But he knows he’ll be back.

“This has always been home,” he says. “This is where family is.”

Amber Bobin moved from Chicago to Maui nearly four years ago. She says she was drawn, in part, by the culture and strong bonds of community.

Earlier this week, she joined a small group to hang 115 crosses on fences erected along the road that cuts through Lahaina. That’s a single cross for each of the souls whose remains have been found. Bobin expected to hang more crosses in the coming days. The fence also was festooned with a collection of ribbons, one for every person still missing.

And if ‘ohana is a way of life in good times, those crosses and ribbons help reveal what it is in tough ones: a mindset that ensures those who have been part of you remain so, even after they were torn away by forces no one imagined would be visited upon home.

“To be able to experience what ‘ohana means, especially in tragedy,” she says, “has been significantly impactful.”

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August 26, 2023
Wildfires threaten southwestern Louisiana amid intense heat

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Wildfires threaten southwestern Louisiana amid intense heat – CBS News

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Raging wildfires in southwestern Louisiana have forced an entire town of about 1,200 people to abandon their homes. Officials say wind patterns and intense heat are making the fires unpredictable. Nicole Sganga reports.

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August 25, 2023
‘Unprecedented’ wildfires across Louisiana force multiple evacuations amid extreme drought | CNN

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CNN
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Louisiana has recorded an unprecedented 441 wildfires in August, forcing multiple southwestern towns to evacuate Thursday and the state to implement a burn ban.

The state is experiencing severe heat and drought conditions. In an email to CNN, Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Forestry spokesperson Jennifer Finely said 441 fires have burned from August 1 to August 24.

Finley said 8,385.73 acres have burned from August 1 to August 25, adding the number of acreage does not include the still-burning fire on Tiger Island, estimated to be more than 20,000 acres. “Tiger Island will not be known until it is out,” she said.

As of Friday evening, there were at least six fires burning in Livingston, Sabine, Vernon and Beauregard Parishes.

Gov. John Bel Edwards met with state and local officials Friday to assess the numerous wildfires burning throughout the state. At a Friday news conference in Beauregard Parish, where numerous communities are under mandatory evacuation, Edwards said officials are not dealing with one fire but fires all over the state “in a way that is very alarming.”

According to CNN Weather, drought conditions have erupted quickly in southwest Louisiana, leaving 6% of the state in exceptional drought conditions. Nearly 50% of the state is in extreme conditions or worse. Around 77% of the state is in a severe drought or worse. In mid-July, there was no extreme drought in Louisiana.

“Nobody alive in Louisiana has ever seen these conditions,” Edwards said. “It’s never been this hot, this dry, for this long.”

“To have these fires burning the way they are and jumping fire lines, and when the wind picks up to have the fires burning in the crowns of trees rather than on the ground and low where they can be more easily contained, makes for a very difficult and dangerous situation,” the governor said.

Edwards urged citizens to adhere to the statewide burn ban.

“You should not be lighting a barbecue grill anywhere in the state of Louisiana today,” Edwards said.

He added the National Guard is assisting in the efforts and the state has requested federal assistance and has looked to other states to help combat the flames.

Speaking in Beauregard Parish, he governor said, “Louisiana National Guard has right at 100 soldiers active in this area in the firefight. They’re authorized to go up to 300 as they need to do that.”

According to Edwards, as of Friday morning, helicopters have moved 348 loads of water, and close to 161,000 gallons have been dropped on the affected areas. No fatalities have been reported, the governor said.

The Beauregard Parish Sheriff’s Office issued an evacuation order for the town of Merryville Thursday evening, saying the fire could reach the town limits within hours, according to Louisiana State Police. On Friday, the sheriff’s office issued further evacuation orders for Bancroft, the Ragle Road area, and the Junction community.

“It is of the utmost importance to get out now,” the Beauregard Sheriff’s office urged in an order sent to Bancroft residents.

Earlier Friday, the sheriff’s office said utilities had turned off services to the residents of Merryville. “All water should be conserved at all cost we need water to fight fires,” the agency said in a Facebook post.

During a time of year when Louisiana is typically preparing for hurricanes and tropical storms, the state is instead dealing with a growing wildfire threat.

Earlier this week there were almost 350 wildfires burning in the state, according to Mike Steele, communications director at the Louisiana Governor’s Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness. Every parish in the state is under a red flag warning, according to the National Weather Service.

State emergency operations centers were activated Wednesday morning to help battle the blazes.

“This time, this year obviously we’re dealing with a different type of weather situation that requires everybody to be aware of the burn ban and to do their part to reduce the likelihood that we would have anything that could potentially start a fire,” the office’s director, Casey Tingle, said in a news conference Wednesday.

Tingle says they’re stretching their resources thin as Louisiana has been under a burn ban since August 7.

“When it comes to this time of year, typically, we’re talking about hurricanes, tropical storms, rain, flooding that sort of thing,” Tingle said, “Our public is very attuned to those type of messages and always does a great job of helping us as a state respond and recover from those events when they happen.”

“We desperately need everyone’s help in adhering to this (burn ban) order,” he said.

And there’s no relief in sight: The upcoming forecast for the area and the state is expected to be dry and hot, Tingle added.

State Fire Marshal Deputy Chief Felicia Cooper also said: “This situation is dangerous for every single one of us.”

The area of Beauregard Parish experiencing the wildfires is in severe to extreme drought. Around 77% of the state is experiencing some level of drought, which is up from 7% of the state just three months ago, according to CNN Weather.

Lake Charles, around 40 miles southeast of Merryville, has seen temperatures over 100 degrees every day since August 18 and temperatures over 95 degrees since June 29.

“Our state has never been this hot and dry and we have never had this many fires,” Edwards posted on social media Thursday. “We need you and your neighbors to help keep our communities and first responders safe. Adhere to the statewide burn ban. Don’t burn anything.”

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August 25, 2023
Dozens of wildfires burn across Louisiana

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Dozens of wildfires burn across Louisiana – CBS News

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Firefighters in Louisiana are stretched thin, battling several dozen wildfires, including the Tiger Island Fire in Beauregard Parish, which has alone burned more than 23 square miles and forced the evacuation of the entire town of Merryville. Nicole Sganga has the latest.

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August 25, 2023
Expert: Addressing mental health will be crucial next step following deadly Maui wildfires
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How can first responders and others address mental health challenges following the widespread destruction of the deadly wildfires in Hawaii?

Tonya Hansel, PhD, associate professor in Tulane’s School of Social Work and expert in disaster mental health and trauma services, is available to speak to:
- Mental health symptoms following a disaster and what services should be made available
- How disasters of this magnitude affect children
- What mental health experts have learned about recovery from other weather-related disasters
“Like other disasters, the surrounding communities of Maui with less damage will likely spearhead disaster response to help displaced individuals and the affected area,” Hansel said. “Children are not too young to be affected. However, their reactions are very different than adults. Once safety has been established, routines are important to reestablish. This might not look exactly like pre-disaster, but having one expected routine is important. Getting back into school is also very important to that routine for school-age children. Importantly, with time, most children are resilient.”
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Tulane University

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August 25, 2023
Dozens of wildfires burn in Louisiana amid scorching heat:

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An entire town in southwestern Louisiana is under mandatory evacuation orders because of a wildfire that state officials say is the largest they have ever seen.

Usually during this time of year, the Deep South state is addressing threats of imminent hurricanes, tropical storms and flooding. But this summer Louisiana has been plagued by record-breaking heat and extreme drought, which have made the wildfire risk unusually high. This month alone, there have been 441 wildfires in the state.

Louisiana’s largest blaze, the Tiger Island Fire in Beauregard Parish, has already burned an estimated 23 square miles — accounting for more acres of burned land than the state usually has in an entire year.

The fire forced the 1,200 residents of Merryville, a rural town just east of the Texas border, to evacuate Thursday night. The evacuation order remained in effect Friday. There have not been any reported injuries, but at least three residential structures have been burned, the Beauregard Parish Sheriff’s Office posted on social media.

“This is unprecedented. We’ve never had to fight this many fires simultaneously and at this duration. We’re fighting between 25 and 30 (wildfires) today,” Mike Strain, the commissioner for Louisiana’s Department of Agriculture and Forestry, said during a news conference Friday.

As of Friday morning, the Tiger Island Fire was only 50% contained and “remains unpredictable due to the wind conditions as well as dry conditions” the sheriff’s office said. Resources are stretched thin as firefighters work in hot weather and use local water sources in a community that is used to flooding and hurricanes rather than drought and fire.

“We only have so many resources to allocate to fires and once you are out, you’re out,” said Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards, who surveyed damage from the wildfire Friday.

A wildfire burns in Louisiana, one of dozens burning across the state. Aug. 23, 2023.

Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Forestry

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott announced Friday that he was deploying firefighters and other emergency personnel to Louisiana to help combat the wildfire in Merryville, which is about 120 miles northeast of Houston.

While nearly all of Louisiana is abnormally dry for this time of year, half of the state is facing “extreme” or “exceptional” drought, according to data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

“Nobody alive in Louisiana today has ever seen these conditions. It has never been this hot and dry for this long,” Edwards said during Friday’s news conference.

The state has faced scorching temperatures this summer. Last week, Edwards declared a state of emergency because of extreme heat.

About 40 miles southeast of Merryville, in Lake Charles, temperatures have been in the triple digits every day since Aug. 18 and over 95 degrees since June 29.

“We are all praying for rain, even knowing that we probably won’t see it,” Strain said.

Edwards said that, based on conversations with the National Weather Service, the highest chance of rain will be Tuesday night. But he added that if it is not “a good, hard and sustained rain, then we are not sure it is going to have the impact that we need it to have.”

With the hot and dry conditions, state and fire officials stress that something as minimal as warm exhaust pipes on grass, cigarette butts thrown out a car window and sparks from dragging safety trailer chains can quickly escalate to mass devastation.

Edwards said many of the blazes could have been prevented if residents adhered to a statewide burn ban that has been in effect since early August.

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August 25, 2023
AP Week in Pictures: Europe and Africa

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Russian President Vladimir Putin addresses leaders from the BRICS group of emerging economies at the start of a three-day summit in Johannesburg, South Africa , Tuesday, Aug. 22, 2023. Putin appeared on a video link after his travel to South Africa was complicated by an International Criminal Court arrest warrant against him over the war in Ukraine. (AP Photo/Jerome Delay)

The Associated Press

Firefighters battle multiple wildfires in Greece, including one in the northeast that officials say is the largest recorded in the European Union.

Russian mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin and some of his top lieutenants were presumed dead in a plane crash in Kuzhenkino, about 300 kilometers (185 miles) northwest of Moscow.

The 15th BRICS summit took place in South Africa, with Putin appearing on a video link after his travel to South Africa was complicated by an International Criminal Court arrest warrant against him over the war in Ukraine.

In sports, Spain’s women’s soccer team won their first World Cup in Australia.

This gallery highlights some of the most compelling images made or published in the past week by Associated Press photographers in Europe and Africa.

The selection was curated by AP photographer Markus Schreiber.

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August 24, 2023
Canadian wildfires led to spike in asthma ER visits, especially in the Northeast

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NEW YORK — The smoke from Canadian wildfires that drifted into the U.S. led to a spike in people with asthma visiting emergency rooms — particularly in the New York area.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention published two studies Thursday about the health impacts of the smoke, which shrouded city skylines with an orange haze in late spring. A medical journal also released a study this week.

When air quality worsens, “an asthmatic feels it before anyone else,” said Dr. Adrian Pristas, a pulmonologist based in Hazlet, New Jersey, who remembered a flood of calls from patients in June during the days of the heaviest smoke.

People with asthma often wheeze, are breathless, have chest tightness and have either nighttime or early-morning coughing.

“I have no doubt that every asthmatic had an uptick in symptoms,” Pristas said. “Some were able to manage it on their own, but some had to call for help.”

Each of the studies looked at different geographic areas — one was national, one was specific to New York state and the last focused on New York City.

Nationally, asthma-associated ER visits were 17% higher than normal during 19 days of wildfire smoke that occurred between late April and early August, according to one CDC study that drew data from about 4,000 U.S. hospitals.

Hospital traffic rose more dramatically in some parts of the country during wildfire smoke: 46% higher in New York and New Jersey.

A second study released by the CDC focused on New York state only, not New York City, because the state and city have separate hospital data bases, one of the authors said.

It found asthma-associated ER visits jumped 82% statewide on the worst air quality day, June 7. The study also said that the central part of New York state saw the highest increases in ER visits — more than twice as high.

The third study, published by the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Medicine, focused solely on New York City. It found more than a 50% increase in asthma-associated ER visits on June 7, said the study’s lead author, George Thurston of New York University.

None of the studies looked at other measures of health, such as increases in heart attacks or deaths.

Wildfire smoke has tiny particles, called PM2.5, that can embed deep in the lungs and cause severe problems for asthmatics. But problematic as the wildfire smoke was, an analysis showed it had lower amounts of some toxic elements found in urban air pollution, Thurston said.

The third study also attempted to compare the surge in ER visits during the wildfire smoke with what happens at the height of a bad pollen season — and the wildfires led to about 10% more ER visits.

“That’s reassuring. It may not have been as bad as it looked,” Thurston said

Jeffrey Acquaviva, a 52-year-old asthmatic in Holmdel, New Jersey, found that conclusion hard to swallow.

“Yeah, right,” said Acquaviva, who works at family-owned construction business.

As the smoke got worse in June and the air in his backyard grew thick and “golden,” Acquaviva changed the filters on his air conditioners and stayed indoors for 2 1/2 days.

His symptoms still got worse — his breathing dangerously difficult — and finally he was taken by ambulance to a hospital and stayed there three days.

Pristas, Acquaviva’s doctor, recalled how invasive the smoke was: “There was nowhere to hide.”

___

The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science and Educational Media Group. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

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August 24, 2023
Maui wildfires renew tensions around water rights in a centuries-old conflict over sacred streams

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LAHAINA, Hawaii — Shortly after the ignition of the deadliest U.S. wildfire in more than a century, a developer of land around a threatened Maui community urgently asked state officials for permission to divert water from streams to fight the growing inferno.

West Maui Land Company, Inc. said it eventually received approval from the Hawaii commission that oversees water management, but suggested the state body didn’t act quickly enough and first directed the company to talk with a downstream taro farmer who relies on stream water, according to letters by a company executive obtained by The Associated Press and other news outlets.

Community members, including Native Hawaiian farmers, say the water the developer wanted for its reservoirs would not have made a difference in the fires. The reservoirs don’t supply Maui County’s fire hydrants, and firefighting helicopters — which could have dipped into the reservoirs for water — were grounded by high winds.

The Aug. 8 fire that killed at least 115 people took place below West Maui Land Company’s developments and the Hawaiian communities that rely on the water. But the dispute over water access during the blaze has sparked new tension in a fight that dates to the mid-1800s, when unfair water distribution practices took root with colonization.

“This is a 2023 rendition of what’s been happening in Lahaina for centuries,” said Kapua‘ala Sproat, director of the Native Hawaiian law center at the University of Hawaii.

Glenn Tremble, who wrote the letters, told the AP via text that the company didn’t share the letters with the media and didn’t want to distract from West Maui’s losses. AP obtained the correspondence from various people familiar with the dispute.

“All we have asked is for the ability to make water available for fire prevention and suppression, to help people while we recover and to rebuild what we have lost,” he wrote.

The complex push-pull over Maui stream diversions recalls other battles over water rights in drought-stricken Western states that have pitted Native American tribes against farmers and farmers against urban areas.

Native Hawaiians have long fought to protect what they consider a sacred resource. Stream diversions continued even after the plantations closed, and booming development contributed to West Maui’s arid conditions. The West Maui Land Company’s subdivision — including multimillion-dollar gated homes that use diverted water — was untouched by the Lahaina fires, noted Native Hawaiians who live off the streams and farm taro, a cultural staple.

“At one time, Lahaina was known to be very verdant and very lush,” said Blossom Feiteira, a Native Hawaiian cultural practitioner and Lahaina native. Hawaiians revere water so much and its abundance was why Lahaina became the capital of the Hawaiian kingdom from 1820 to 1845, she said.

When sugar cane and pineapple fields from the plantation era shut down in the 1980s and 1990s, the water was redirected to gated communities with lush green lawns and swimming pools, she said. Overgrown brown brush and invasive grass cropped up around these developments.

“There has been resentment in the community about that kind of picture,” Feiteira said.

In one of the letters, West Maui Land Company said the state Commission on Water Resource Management should not prioritize “one individual’s farm” over fighting a wind-whipped fire.

“No one is happy there was water in the streams while our homes, our businesses, our lands, and our lives were reduced to ash,” the company said. The letter said the company requested “approval to divert more water from the streams so we could store as much water as possible for fire control” at 1 p.m. on the day of the fire, but that they were directed to first inquire with a downstream taro farmer.

At about 6 p.m., the commission approved the diversion of more water, the letter said.

West Maui Land’s suggestion that Kaleo Manuel, first deputy of the commission, delayed the release of stream water has struck a nerve among Native Hawaiians and others who say the company is making him a scapegoat and using the tragedy to take yet more water.

A Lahaina stream sustains Keʻeaumoku Kapu’s taro patches on his ancestral lands deep in Kauaula Valley in the mountains above Lahaina. He fled the town on the afternoon of the fire as flames approached and spent a night in his truck. The fire didn’t get close to his home and farm in the valley, but in 2018 area residents used water from the stream to fight a wildfire, he said.

He called West Maui Land’s characterization of the stream diversions “bogus” and disingenuous.

“They’ll do anything to get it,” Kapu said of the water.

The company is “trying to use this incredibly difficult time to get a legal and financial advantage, especially over their water resources, when that’s something they were not able to accomplish legally before the fire,” said Sproat, of the Native Hawaiian law center.

The letters caused such a commotion that the state Department of Land and Natural Resources re-assigned Manuel, drawing a lawsuit from West Maui residents decrying the move. The department said in a statement that Manuel’s reassignment didn’t suggest he did anything wrong, but would allow officials to focus on Maui.

Manuel couldn’t immediately be reached for comment. Community groups urged supporters to go to Manuel’s Honolulu office last week to bestow lei upon him in gratitude for his efforts.

Conflicts over stream diversions are not just a West Maui issue. Soon after the fires started, the state attorney general’s office filed a petition with the state Supreme Court blaming an environmental court judge’s caps on East Maui stream diversions for a lack of water for firefighting.

The court didn’t immediately issue a ruling after hearing arguments Wednesday.

“This is what happens when there’s literally not enough water anymore,” said Kamanamaikalani Beamer, a former trustee of the Commission on Water Resource Management, calling streams “the veins that fill up our aquifers.”

“Water brings together like the multitude of interests — economic, cultural,” he said. “But it’s because no one can just create it out of nothing.”

___

Kelleher reported from Honolulu.

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August 24, 2023
Hawaii’s economic toll from wildfires is up to $6 billion, Moody’s estimates

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Hawaii’s economy has suffered between $4 billion and $6 billion in losses after deadly wildfires ripped through several regions of Maui this month.

The Lahaina conflagration and Kula wildfires in early August burned between $2.5 and $4 billion worth of insured properties in the state, an estimate from risk-modeling company Moody’s RMS shows.

The assessment, released Tuesday, reflects direct and indirect losses from physical damage caused by the fires which burned through approximately 2,170 acres, or 3.4 miles. More than 100 people have been confirmed dead as a result of the catastrophe, while more than 1,000 remain unaccounted for.

Moody’s calculated the state’s economic losses using building-level damage assessments from multiple sources, in addition to damage maps from the Maui Emergency Management Agency.

The estimate of Hawaii’s economic losses does not factor in the blaze’s effect on the state’s gross domestic product; government spending on the response to the catastrophe or the social cost of the fires, as the daily lives of families and communities are forever changed.

Lahaina, Maui, Thursday, Aug. 17, 2023 – Aerial images east of town where homes and businesses lay in ruins after last week’s devastating wildfire swept through town.

Robert Gauthier

Disruption to tourism

Business interruptions are another notable source of economic losses from the fires reflected in Moody’s estimates. In addition to businesses directly impacted by the fires, the are also those indirectly impacted.

Small businesses located on safe parts of Maui remain open but are suffering from a loss of tourist dollars as airlines and government officials warn travelers to cancel their trips to Hawaii’s second largest island.

“We still need tourists to come to the island. We need them so that we can support locals who were affected,” restaurant owner Nutcharee Case, told CBS MoneyWatch. Case has been feeding wildfire survivors by cooking and shuttling free meals to Lahaina, about 22 miles away.

Biden says Maui rebuild must respect Hawaiian traditions, locals still worried about future

05:29

Roughly 70% of every dollar in Maui is generated directly or indirectly through the “economic engine” of tourism, according to the Maui Economic Development Board’s website.

Rebuilding

Rebuilding on Maui following the devastating wildfires could cost more than $5.5 billion, officials forecast Saturday. Insurance is expected to cover at least 75% of the economic damage, according to Moody’s, because the state has high insurance penetration rates and policies typically cover wildfire damages.

However, “extenuating factors” such as potential supply-chain issues and the impact of inflation on construction prices can drive up the cost of losses even higher than insured-value estimates, the ratings company noted.

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August 23, 2023
US tightens some offshore oil rig safety rules that had been loosened under Trump

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NEW ORLEANS — The Biden administration on Tuesday finalized tighter rules for complex devices meant to prevent catastrophic blowouts on offshore oil and gas drilling rigs, reversing some Trump administration policies and returning to a more stringent regulatory stance adopted after the 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster.

Failure of blowout preventer equipment was a major cause of the April 2010 disaster that killed 11 workers and resulted in an estimated 130 million gallons of crude oil spewing into the Gulf of Mexico over 87 days.

Tougher offshore safety rules had been adopted in 2016 but were revised in 2019 under then-President Donald Trump. The oil industry welcomed that move, but it was followed by an ongoing lawsuit filed by environmental organizations.

The new rules from the Interior Department’s Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement address conditions and well pressures under which the automatic well control devices operate. They require that remotely operated underwater vehicles be capable of opening and closing key components of blowout preventers. They also include mandates and time limits for investigating failures and providing data on blowouts to regulators.

It’s a revision but not a complete reversal of the Trump-era changes. For instance, BSEE is maintaining an expansion of the interval between required blowout preventer inspections from 14 to 21 days.

Miyoko Sakashita, of the Center for Biological Diversity, one of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit challenging the Trump administration revisions, said the new rules would likely resolve the lawsuit, which has been delayed several times since President Joe Biden took office.

“Importantly, the rule requires that those testing and reporting on blowout preventers be certified and meet federal standards. It also requires that blow-out preventer failure reports be sent to BSEE,” Sakashita said in an email exchange.

But, she said, the changes don’t go far enough.

“This new rule at least puts an end to industry self-policing, but that’s too low of a bar,” Sakashita said. “We can all see from this summer’s heat waves, wildfires, and severe storms that we’re in a climate crisis. Biden needs to declare a climate emergency and end offshore drilling.”

An official with the American Petroleum Institute criticized the latest regulatory changes.

“Regulatory clarity is critical for ensuring compliance and establishing safe operations, but this rule continues the rampant politicization of the rulemaking process and represents another policy swing from administration to administration, resulting in a policy that fails to meaningfully improve the safety of workers or protect the environment,” Holly Hopkins, an API vice president, said in an emailed statement.

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August 22, 2023
Hilary moves through Southwest with historic amount of rainfall | CNN

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CNN
—

Hilary has triggered deadly flooding, heavy rains and powerful gusts across parts of the southwest and Mexico, transforming streets into raging rivers and forcing some residents to flee, and leaving others in need of rescue, even after the storm weakened to a post-tropical cyclone.

More rain is expected to fall throughout Monday and Tuesday as officials clean up the aftermath. After hitting Southern California on Sunday as a tropical storm – the state’s first since 1997 – Hilary headed into Nevada as its first-ever recorded tropical storm. As Hilary moves across the southwest, the storm has brought power outages, life-threatening flooding and calls for residents to evacuate or shelter in place.

Live updates: Hilary brings major flood risk to California

The storm broke rainfall records across Southern California: Palm Springs got nearly a year’s worth of rain with 4.3 inches in 24 hours, one of its rainiest days ever. Death Valley nearly set a record with 1.68 inches, and the Furnace Creek area, which usually gets about two-tenths of an inch in August, got 0.63 inches.

And the storm is the rainiest tropical storm system in Nevada’s history, nearly doubling the state’s 116-year-old all-time record, according to preliminary data from NOAA’s Weather Prediction Center. Hilary has released 8.7 inches of rain on Lee Canyon, Nevada, smashing the previous record of 4.36 inches in 1906.

Watch: Massive mudslide sends firefighters scrambling to safety

More rain is expected to cause dangerous flash, urban and arroyo flooding in some places, including landslides, mudslides and debris flows. Localized flooding is expected into Tuesday morning across northern portions of the Intermountain West.

In Palm Springs, a section of Interstate 10 is shut down while road crews clear away mud left behind by floodwaters from Tropical Storm Hilary, but other routes in and out of the desert oasis near Joshua Tree National Park are open.

In addition, many freeway off-ramps are limited because of mud, and CalTrans crews are working to clear those in an effort to ease accessibility.

Emergency telephone service, which had been down since midmorning, has been restored, the police department said, but an outage continues to affect other areas of the Coachella Valley.

“We are not used to this level of precipitation, generally – certainly not in the middle of summer,” San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria told CNN on Sunday.

“With what we’re expecting, it may overwhelm us.”

Here’s the latest:

• Heavy rains and some flooding may continue Tuesday morning in parts of the Intermountain West, according to the National Hurricane Center. The rain will cause “mostly localized areas of flash flooding,” the National Weather Service Prediction Center said. Flood watches remain in place across eight Western states.

• Strong and gusty winds will blow in Nevada, western Utah, southern Idaho and southwest Montana, the hurricane center said. Coastal tropical storm warnings have been discontinued.

• Some portions of Southern California lost power during the storm but electricity was mostly restored by Monday evening. A total of about 41,000 customers in Los Angeles were without power at one point, Marty Adams, general manager and chief engineer at the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, said Monday.

• People in parts of Southern California should not travel unless they are fleeing an area under flooding or under an evacuation order, the National Weather Service has warned.

• Flooding, mudslides and downed trees and wires were widely reported across Southern California on Sunday and Monday. At least nine people were rescued Sunday in a San Diego riverbed, San Diego Fire-Rescue said, with water rescues also reported in Ventura County and Palm Springs.

• In Mexico, where the storm first landed, power has been restored to 80% of customers in the three states affected by Hilary, according to the national power company. “379,850 users have been affected, and electricity supply has been restored to 302,134, equivalent to 80%,” said the Federal Electricity Commission in a statement Monday.

To the west, Los Angeles and Ventura counties saw “considerable damage” Sunday night amid reports of dangerous flash flooding, and rock and mudslides, the National Weather Service said, adding up to half an inch of rain could fall per hour.

Cars were stuck in floodwaters in the Spanish Hills area, the National Weather Service reported.

Crowley urged residents to take precautions on the roads.

“A relatively small amount of water can sweep a vehicle away,” she said.

In Los Angeles, the worst of the storm was over as of Monday morning, according to officials. All weather warnings in the city were canceled. “We are past the brunt of the impact,” said National Weather Service meteorologist Ariel Cohen.

Schools in San Diego and Los Angeles are set to reopen Tuesday after closing Monday in anticipation of the storm. Officials canceled classes for the more than 121,000 students in the San Diego Unified School District.

The Los Angeles Unified School District, the second-largest in the nation, also shut down Monday. The district spans about 700 square miles, meaning the impact of the storm varied for its students.

Schools in the Los Angeles district will reopen on Tuesday, according to superintendent Alberto Carvalho.

“Our teams have been scouring our schools, and so far, conditions are pretty good,” Carvalho said. A couple dozen schools have lost phone and internet service, and one school has been impacted by a minor mudslide.

“It would have been reckless for us to make a different decision,” Carvalho said of the decision to close schools Monday.

“Los Angeles was tested but we came through it and we came through it with minimal impacts, considering what we endured,” said Los Angeles City Council President Paul Krekorian.

The Nye County School District in Nevada also canceled classes Monday, with plans to reopen Tuesday.

Cars stranded in roads deluged with mud and water

Once a hurricane, Hilary weakened as it made landfall Sunday in Mexico – where at least one person died – then crossed into the Golden State. The storm’s center was roughly 10 miles southeast of downtown Los Angeles around 8 p.m. local time Sunday, moving north with weakened 45-mph winds, according to the hurricane center.

The Los Angeles Fire Department fielded more than 4,000 emergency calls on Sunday and responded to about 1,800 incidents, Chief Kristin Crowley said in a news conference on Monday. The calls included a request for help for five cars stranded in a flooded intersection of Sun Valley. One person was safely rescued and no one was injured in the Sun Valley incident, Crowley said.

Flood water affected an underground power vault, leading to an outage for about 6,000 customers in the Beverly Grove area, with other outages reported in Hollywood, Hyde Park and Brentwood. The vast majority of city power customers remain unaffected by the storm, according to Los Angeles officials.

As the storm barreled through, covering roadways with debris and water, roads were blocked across Southern California by Sunday night. A section of Interstate 8 in Imperial County, east of San Diego, was closed Sunday after boulders came loose from an adjoining slope and fell into the road.

In San Bernardino County, a stretch of State Route 127 covered in floodwaters was closed, while a section of Interstate 15 was shuttered in Barstow because of downed power lines after a lightning strike, authorities said.

Crews across the region Sunday evening rescued people caught in the storm, including at least nine in a riverbed area in San Diego. “Crews are still looking for more people who may need help. #riverrescue,” San Diego Fire-Rescue said.

And Ventura County firefighters searched the Santa Clara River for people trapped in the waters on Sunday night, videos show.

The storm led to other disruptions across Southern California, with many parks, beaches and other locations closed as officials called on residents to stay indoors.

And Hilary continued to cause damage as it moved into Nevada. In Mt. Charleston, Nevada, the storm brought significant flooding on Monday morning, washing out the roadways. Residents are sheltering in place, the power is shut off, and the Nevada National Guard is on its way to assist, according to a Facebook post from Clark County.

West of Las Vegas, rushing water is flowing like a river down Echo Road, leaving vehicles stranded from Mary Jane Trailheads and Trail Canyon, according to the U.S. Forest Service. Emergency crews are evaluating and ask for people to stay out of the area, the service said.

California had been preparing for difficult conditions, positioning first responders across Southern California to brace for water rescues in flood-prone areas like wildfire burn scars and deserts amid fears areas unaccustomed to rain could suddenly receive a year’s worth or more, triggering flash floods and landslides.

Rainfall totals have been significant:

Daily and monthly rainfall records were broken Sunday, with 1.53 inches falling in downtown Los Angeles, 1.56 inches in Long Beach and 2.95 inches in Palmdale, according to the weather service.

At least three swift water rescues were conducted in Palm Springs, police department Lt. Gustavo Araiza told CNN.

In Cathedral City, a desert community roughly a 110-mile drive east of Los Angeles, at least 14 people were rescued from a senior boarding care facility Monday afternoon after “a blockade” of mud trapped them inside, city spokesperson Ryan Hunt said.

All of the people rescued are doing well, Hunt said.

The fire department had to borrow a dozer truck from a recycling center so they could carry out the rescue, Hunt said. The department had firefighters sit in the dozer and then had those being rescued sit on top to be brought out of the structure, he added.

Despite the “unorthodox method,” everyone stayed calm, he said.

Santa Clarita, about 30 miles north of Los Angeles, experienced steady rain for about 10 hours, with the storm dropping well over four inches of rain on the valley. Parts of Sand Canyon Road could be seen falling into rushing water.

ATTN DRIVERS: State Route 127 is now closed between Baker Blvd. in Baker (San Bernardino County) and Tecopa Hot Springs Road (Inyo County) due to flooding. @Caltrans9 maintenance crews are on scene. pic.twitter.com/fvcI9Vhss3

— Caltrans District 9 (@Caltrans9) August 21, 2023

As the storm continues to affect the West, officials with Oregon’s emergency management are bracing for possible flooding across portions of the state.

“At this point, we’re concerned about the substantial rainfall and the potential for fast-moving water and flooding. Flood watches have been issued for areas of Central and Eastern Oregon,” Oregon Department of Emergency Management spokesperson Chris Crabb told CNN Monday afternoon.

“We have reports of minor flooding currently and communities using sandbags to mitigate the impacts, but there have been no requests for state support at this point,” Crabb went on.

According to Crabb, the office is working with county and tribal partners.

Portions of Oregon are under a flood watch through Tuesday afternoon, according to the National Weather Service.

“The remnants of Hurricane Hilary will bring periods of moderate to heavy rain to portions of northeastern Oregon through Tuesday,” the weather service said in a forecast message.

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August 21, 2023
2nd person found dead in eastern Washington wildfires, hundreds of structures burned

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A second person has died in wildfires in eastern Washington state that ignited on Friday during red flag conditions, burning hundreds of structures and closing a section of a major interstate for days, fire officials said.

A body was found in the area burned by the Oregon fire north of Spokane on Sunday afternoon, fire officials told The Associated Press on Monday.

Another person died in connection with the Gray fire that started Friday west of Spokane, officials said on Saturday.

Gov. Jay Inslee visited the burned areas Sunday and declared a statewide emergency because of those fires — which have destroyed at least 265 structures — and others that combined have burned more than 53 square miles (137 square kilometers) around the state this year.

Inslee said Monday he had talked with President Joe Biden and Federal Emergency Management Administrator Deanne Criswell about securing federal dollars to help with firefighting efforts.

“I appreciated President Biden’s call this morning to share his concern for the devastating Spokane County wildfires and what can be done to secure federal aid,” Inslee said Monday on X, formerly known as Twitter.

Inslee said Criswell told him the agency would work with Washington to assess damages as quickly as possible to see what federal aid the state may qualify for.

Criswell spoke with reporters aboard Air Force One on Monday, as Biden flew to tour wildfire damage in Hawaii. Criswell said FEMA had emergency response teams embedded with Washington state emergency response authorities “and they’re ready to support any resource request as needed.”

The Gray fire started near Medical Lake in Spokane County around noon Friday and had burned about 15.6 square miles (40 square kilometers) as of Monday.

At least 185 structures have been destroyed or damaged with a higher number expected once crews are able to make an accurate assessment, according to Isabelle Hoygaard, public information officer with the Gray fire incident management team.

“A good majority” of the homes and other structures burned were in the small city of Medical Lake and nearby Silver Lake, Hoygaard said. Medical Lake Mayor Terri Cooper said Monday that 5,000 residents had been displaced because of the fire, KREM-TV reported.

Fire crews were making progress on the Gray fire Monday, Hoygaard said, and a section of Interstate 90 that had closed because of the flames and burned trees falling into the roadway reopened on Monday afternoon. Some of the mandatory evacuations were lessened on Monday, according to Spokane County Emergency Management.

The Oregon fire began Friday afternoon northeast of Elk, Washington. It had consumed about 15.8 square miles (40.9 square kilometers) of forest and cropland as of Monday, according to fire officials. More than 80 structures have burned in that blaze and about 150 remain at risk, according to Guy Gifford, public information officer for the Oregon fire.

Mandatory evacuations have been in effect around both fires with officials also noting that if residents feel threatened by fire, they should evacuate immediately.

“There may be no formal notice that you need to evacuate,” fire managers said on the fire incident information system website.

The cause of both fires is under investigation. Both started in dry, windy conditions that had prompted red flag warnings of critical fire danger in the region.

Air quality around Spokane was the worst in the country on Sunday with poor air quality continuing on Monday, according to the National Weather Service in Spokane. Areas of western Washington that had experienced smoky conditions on Sunday started to see some improvement on Monday.

___

AP writer Will Weissert contributed to this report from Washington, D.C.

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August 21, 2023
President Biden arrives in Maui after devastating fires

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President Biden arrives in Maui after devastating fires – CBS News

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President Biden and first lady Dr. Jill Biden arrived in Maui on Monday to survey the damage from the deadly wildfires that destroyed more than 1,000 homes and killed at least 114 people. Some 850 people remain missing nearly two weeks after the town of Lahaina was destroyed. Jonathan Vigliotti reports.

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August 21, 2023
850 People Missing After Maui Wildfires, Mayor Says Ahead Of Biden’s Visit

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A total of 850 people remain missing following the devastating wildfires in Maui, the Hawaiian county’s mayor said Monday, with this latest count coming ahead of President Joe Biden’s visit to the island.

In addition to those missing, 114 people have been confirmed dead. Of those individuals, just 27 have been identified and 11 families have been notified, said Maui County Mayor Richard Bissen in a video address.

“The number of identified will rise and the number of missing may decrease, but there will be daily fluctuations in the numbers as family members are added and removed from the lists,” he said.

A man walks among burned-out cars in Lahaina, Hawaii, on Friday.

Bissen said he’s “both saddened and relieved about these numbers” as the missing persons list initially contained more than 2,000 names.

Local authorities have been using DNA testing to help identify the human remains. Families of the missing are encouraged to submit DNA swabs through a family assistance center set up in the town of Kaʻanapali, north of Lahaina.

“The more family members that we can get, the better comparisons we can do and the faster we can do them,” Julie French with the Rapid DNA company ANDE, whose technology is being used to help identify victims, said in a video shared by Maui’s government on social media.

The president and first lady Jill Biden on Monday will visit the town of Lahaina and meet with its survivors and first responders after the town of roughly 13,000 people was largely razed by the flames.

A member of a search-and-rescue team walks with her cadaver dog near Front Street in Lahaina, Hawaii, on Aug. 12.

Joe Biden, in a statement Sunday, vowed to “do everything in my power to help Maui recover and rebuild from this tragedy” while dually respecting the sacred lands, cultures and traditions of the area.

“We will be here as long as it takes for Maui,” he said ahead of his visit.

Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), who will join Biden on Monday, has stressed the importance of the president seeing the destruction firsthand to fully understand its devastation.

“As bad as this looks, it’s actually worse,” Schatz told The Associated Press on Sunday. “What you can’t see is the damage to utility infrastructure. What you can’t see is the thousands of kids who are trying to figure out how to go to school this fall. What you can’t see is the first responders who went into the flames without regard for their own safety and had their own homes burned down.”

An aerial view of Lahaina taken on Friday shows burned cars and homes in a former neighborhood.

Justin Sullivan via Getty Images

Schatz, in a separate interview with Hawaii News Now, said he believes the experience will affect Biden in ways that have affected “a lot of us across the state.”

“In that, it’s just the most heartbreaking thing you’ve ever seen,” he said. “We’ve had floods and hurricanes and even some wildfires, and certainly some volcanic eruptions, and all of those is its own kind of tragedy, but this is in its own category in terms of the death toll and also in terms of the property damage.”

More than 1,000 federal responders have arrived on the island to assist the state with its recovery. More than $7 million in federal aid has also been approved by FEMA for more than 2,200 households, the agency said Saturday.

This figure includes more than $2.3 million in initial rental assistance. The Red Cross has said that it intends to move everyone taking refuge in shelters to hotel rooms by this week.

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August 21, 2023
The Bidens will travel to Maui to meet with wildfire survivors and first responders

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SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, California — President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden are traveling to Maui on Monday to comfort survivors of the devastating wildfires that ripped through the western part of the Hawaiian island earlier this month, as his administration responds to the devastation whose full scope is still unknown.

The Bidens are taking a detour from their weeklong vacation in the Lake Tahoe area for the day trip to Lahaina, a historic town of 13,000 people that was virtually destroyed by the flames. While there, the first couple will meet with first responders and be briefed by state and local officials about the ongoing response.

They will also view the damaged town, both from helicopters and on the ground, and the Democratic president will deliver remarks paying tribute to the victims of the wildfires, which have killed more than 100 people since they began on Aug. 8.

The president will also tap Bob Fenton, a regional leader at the Federal Emergency Management Agency, as chief federal response coordinator for the Maui wildfires, ensuring that someone from his administration will be responsible for long-term recovery efforts. It will take years to rebuild Lahaina, where just about every building was obliterated.

“I know how profoundly loss can impact a family and a community and I know nothing can replace the loss of life,” Biden said in a statement ahead of the trip. “I will do everything in my power to help Maui recover and rebuild from this tragedy. And throughout our efforts, we are focused on respecting sacred lands, cultures, and traditions.”

Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, said that as of Sunday about 85% of the affected area had been searched and nearly 2,000 people remained without power and 10,000 were without telecom connectivity. Water in parts of west Maui is not safe to drink.

While immediate aid such as water, food and blankets has been readily distributed to residents, Schatz said that cellphones, identification and other documents that people would need to help them enroll in longer-term aid programs were burned in the fires, adding more challenges to the application process.

More than 1,000 federal officials remain on the ground in Hawaii to respond to the wildfires, according to the White House. The administration has doled out more than $8 million in aid to affected families.

Schatz, who will be with Biden as the president travels to his home state on Monday, stressed that officials were “still responding to the disaster” and “We are not yet in a recovery phase.”

“As bad as this looks, it’s actually worse,” he said in a phone interview on Sunday. “What you can’t see is the damage to utility infrastructure. What you can’t see is the thousands of kids who are trying to figure out how to go to school this fall. What you can’t see is the first responders who went into the flames without regard for their own safety and had their own homes burned down.”

While vacationing in Lake Tahoe, Biden has been on the phone regularly with officials to get briefed on updates to the wildfire response, the White House said.

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August 21, 2023
Wildfire on Spain’s popular tourist island of Tenerife was started deliberately, official says

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SANTA CRUZ DE TENERIFE, Canary Islands — Canary Islands regional President Fernando Clavijo said Sunday that police have confirmed that a wildfire raging on the Spanish tourist island of Tenerife was started deliberately.

Clavijo said police had opened three lines of investigation but did not say if there had been any arrests.

Improved weather conditions helped firefighters make advances overnight in their battle to tame the blaze that has raged out of control for the past five days, authorities said Sunday.

“The night was very difficult but thanks to the work of the firefighters, the results have been very positive,” Tenerife governor Rosa Dávila said at a news conference.

The Canary Islands have been in drought for most of the past few years, like most of mainland Spain. The islands have recorded below-average rainfall in recent years because of changing weather patterns impacted by climate change.

Although the blaze in the northeast of the island is not near the main tourist areas in the southwest, the regional government ordered the evacuation of a state-run hotel in the Teide volcano national park, in central Tenerife, some 50 kilometers (30 miles) southwest of the fire zone. It was not immediately clear how many peope were staying at the hotel.

Dávila said that more than 12,000 people have been evacuated from their homes since the fire started Tuesday. The islands’ emergency services said Sunday that 11,600 hectares (29,000 acres) of pine forest and scrubland had been burned.

No injuries have yet been reported, and Dávila said that thanks to the firefighters, no houses have been burned so far.

The fire, described as the worst in Tenerife in decades, is threatening 11 town areas flanking a steep and craggy mountain area. Access for firefighters is extremely difficult.

The emergency services said air quality in 19 town areas was not good and urged people to stay indoors when possible and wear masks outdoors.

More than 400 firefighters and soldiers have been deployed, as well as 23 water-carrying helicopters and planes.

Spain’s mainland is bracing for another heat wave starting Sunday that will last until Thursday. Spain’s state weather service said temperatures would gradually rise to hit 40 degrees Celsius (104 Fahrenheit) in parts of the mainland Wednesday and Thursday.

On Tenerife, the agency predicted maximum temperatures averaging 30 C (86F) for the coming week.

According to the European Forest Fire Information System, Spain heads the list of EU countries affected by wildfires so far this year, with 75,000 hectares (185,000 acres) burned, ahead of Italy and Greece.

More than 2,000 people were evacuated in a wildfire on the nearby La Palma island last month that affected some 4,500 hectares (11,000 acres).

Spain accounted for almost 40% of the nearly 800,00 hectares (2 million acres) burned in the European Union in 2022, the EU agency said.

The seven Canary Islands are located off the northwest coast of Africa and southwest of mainland Spain. At their nearest point, they are 100 kilometers (60 miles) from Morocco.

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Giles reported from Madrid.

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August 20, 2023
As thousands flee homes across British Columbia from wildfires, chiefs in one region report progress

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VANCOUVER, British Columbia — As tens of thousands of people were under evacuation orders across British Columbia and firefighters battled raging wildfires throughout Canada on Sunday, fire chiefs in a region known as a summer destination for families said they’ve made some progress in the struggle.

There’s “finally a bit of a glimmer of hope,” West Kelowna Fire Chief Jason Broland told a news conference of the progress being made in the Lake Okanagan region of southern British Columbia, an area of picturesque resort towns surrounded by mountains.

“The weather has allowed us to make progress,” he said, adding that crews were able to conduct more traditional firefighting techniques such as putting out hot spots.

If “conditions hold as they are,” he said, fire crews will start to see “real progress being made in a measurable way. And that finally is a bit of a glimmer of hope for us.”

Meanwhile, hundreds of fires continued to rage across British Columbia and 35,000 people were under evacuation orders Sunday.

“It is still very much dynamic,” said Jerrad Schroeder, a British Columbia Wildfire Service chief. “There’s still portions of this fire that we just have not prioritized.”

The provincial government has issued a state of emergency and urged people not to travel for non-essential reasons to the central interior and southeast portions of the province due to “significant” wildfire activity.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced the approval of British Columbia’s request for federal assistance and said the government was deploying assets from the Canadian Armed Forces to assist in evacuations. “We’ll continue to be here with whatever support is needed,” he said on X, formerly known as Twitter.

Canada has seen a record number of wildfires this year that have also caused choking smoke in parts of the U.S. All told, there have been more than 5,700 fires, which have burned more than 137,000 square kilometers (53,000 square miles) from one end of Canada to the other, according to the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre. There are still more than 1,000 active fires in the country, according to the agency.

Meanwhile, firefighters were working Sunday to keep blazes at bay near the capital of Canada’s Northwest Territories, where forecasters warned that drier and windier weather was coming.

The break that firefighters defending Yellowknife got from milder weather and a small amount of rain was expected to end, as temperatures were forecast to climb higher. Officials had managed to keep the flames from advancing closer than 15 kilometers (nine miles) to the city, left virtually empty when nearly all of its 20,000 residents fled for safety.

That blaze is one of 237 wildfires burning in the Northwest Territories.

In a Facebook post, Yellowknife officials said they were working with 20 contractors and 75 volunteers to establish wildfire defense lines around the city, such as fire breaks, water sprinklers and cannons, and aircraft dropping fire retardant. A protective line of 25 kilometers (15.5 miles) has been established.

“We are not out of the woods yet as many factors can change the status of a fire quickly,” the post said.

In Hay River, evacuees could be looking at weeks before they can return home, Mayor Kandis Jameson said in a Sunday morning statement to the community’s 3,800 residents. Warm, dry weather and steady winds are forecast for the upcoming week, she said.

In Fort Smith, southeast of Yellowknife and just north of the Alberta border, the town of about 2,600 remained under an evacuation order Sunday. Officials asked residents to stay away and urged anyone who remained behind to leave because a fire burning four kilometers (2.5 miles) away could be pushed toward the community.

“Every person that returns requires evacuation assistance if the fire enters the community. Please do not add additional strain to the already taxed support network in the community,” Fort Smith Protective Services said in a social media post.

Despite the advances made by firefighters in the Lake Okanagan region, which includes Kelowna, a city of 150,000 people about 90 miles (150 kilometers) north of the U.S. border, fire chief Broland conceded that “some may be coming back to nothing” when evacuees are allowed to return.

“Some of you have lost your homes. There’s no question about that,” he said. “There are lots of backyards where the fire has come right to your patio furniture. And it’s been stopped there because of the work of the 500 people that are on the ground fighting. ”

In Lake Country, a community north of Kelowna, fire chief Darren Lee said Sunday that crews were moving out of the initial attack stage “into more sustained action” on a fire near there. He also asked residents whose homes are not near the fire to leave their sprinklers off to save water for the firefighting effort.

Among those who fled as flames threatened their homes was Todd Ramsay. He recalled sitting on his deck in Kelowna’s North Clifton area watching the fire rage on the other side of Lake Okanagan, about 2.5 kilometers (1.5 miles) away. He didn’t think it would be possible for the flames to jump the lake, but they did.

“Sure enough, it started raining pine cones and tree bark,” he said. A fire quickly started behind his house and there were “huge plumes of smoke just carrying embers across the lake.” Ramsay said he turned on a water sprinkler and he and his family packed up to flee Thursday night as trees were burning, wondering if they’d see their home again.

By Saturday, Ramsay, his wife, two children, two cats and a dog had driven to North Vancouver to stay with his sister. Ramsay heard his house had not burned but didn’t know for sure.

“There’s definitely some anxiety around it. Where we’re going to stay, what we’re going to do when we get back, if it’s not there,” he said. “I’m an artist. I have a lot of my paints there. The more important thing obviously is all of us are safe. But we’ve worked hard our whole lives to have this home.”

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Haigh reported from Norwich, Connecticut.

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August 20, 2023