Devastating wildfires on Maui were still raging Wednesday night, making the assessment of damage, deaths and casualties difficult as thousands of residents lost homes, visitors were asked to leave the island, and historic Lahaina — the Hawaiian kingdom’s original seat of power and home to King Kamehameha’s palace — lay in ruins.

Officials fear the death toll and casualties will rise, but preliminary reports were that the fire that tore through Maui claimed at least 36 lives, wounded nearly 30, forced some at Lahaina Harbor into the ocean to escape flames, and destroyed or damaged at least 271 structures on the Valley Isle. At least three wildfires on Maui and three on Hawaii island were fueled by winds generated by Hurricane Dora as it passed to the south of Hawaii on Tuesday.

Maui Mayor Richard Bissen Jr. confirmed last night that the death toll stood at 36.

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The Hawaii island fires were contained, all roads reopened and shelters closed by Wednesday night. But fires continued to burn out of control in Lahaina, Kula and Kihei under high winds, dry foliage and low humidity. As many as 30 power lines were blown over and may have contributed to the blazes.

“These fires are absolutely devastating, and we will not know the full extent of the damage for a while. In the meantime, the highest priority is the safety of the people,” said U.S. Sen. Brian Schatz.

A federal team was on the ground in Lahaina to assist with search and rescue efforts. With nearly 100 Maui firefighters working around the clock to battle the wildfires in Lahaina, Upcountry and Pulehu, Maui Fire Department officials said they requested the assistance of 20 firefighters from Honolulu and an incident management team.

Four helicopters were deployed for water drops in Lahaina, while two Chinook and four Windward Aviation helicopters conducted drops on the three active fires. Three helicopters from the U.S. Coast Guard and U.S. Navy conducted search and rescue operations along the West Maui coastline.

Maui knows wildfires, but nothing like the ones that left much of Lahaina destroyed. Without power to 12,400 customers and with no cellular or landline phone service, government officials were communicating primarily via radio.

Documentation of the devastation will continue along with search and rescue efforts.

The true scope of the damage and human toll may not be known for weeks, possibly months, said Lt. Gov. Sylvia Luke, who organized a news conference with state and county officials as acting governor Wednesday in Gov. Josh Green’s absence.

Luke asked people not to fly into Maui and ordered all nonessential travelers, including tourists, to leave as soon as possible. On Oahu, the Hawai‘i Convention Center was quickly converted into an evacuation area for visitors and Maui residents who could not find other lodging. About a dozen evacuees had arrived by about 8:30 p.m.

Luke called West Maui “not a safe place to be … shelters are overrun.”

“We are just struck by the devastation on Maui,” she said.

The Coast Guard said it made 12 “ocean rescues” following reports that people were jumping into the water to avoid the flames, but demurred when asked by the Honolulu Star-Advertiser whether crews reported any fatalities.

Maui Memorial Medical Center said since Tuesday night the hospital had been treating patients with burns, smoke inhalation and other fire-related injuries.

Six patients were flown from Maui to Oahu on Tuesday night, said Speedy Bailey, regional director for Hawaii Life Flight, an air-ambulance company. Three of them had critical burns and were taken to Straub Medical Center’s burn unit, he said. The others were taken to other Honolulu hospitals.

At least 20 patients were taken to Maui Memorial Medical Center.

Kaiser Permanente reported its Lahaina clinic was destroyed by the fire. Members are being directed to its Maui Lani location.

State Department of Education officials said they were awaiting clearance to access Lahaina to conduct preliminary damage assessments of public school campuses. Unofficial aerial photos show the King Kamehameha III Elementary campus — on Front Street in Lahaina — sustained extensive fire and structural damage, they said.

All schools on Maui with the exception of Hana High and Elementary will remain closed through Friday.

The devastation to Lahaina and surrounding communities and businesses will only exacerbate the financial plight of struggling, working families and businesses that barely survived the COVID-19 pandemic.

Clay Trauernicht, an extension specialist in ecosystems and fires at the University of Hawaii at Manoa, said the Maui fires represent a new era in island firefighting that increasingly relies on aerial water drops.

But the high winds prevented helicopter flights when the fires began erupting early Tuesday morning.

Plantation workers and ranchers used to report — or even extinguish — fires before they got out of control and would direct firefighters to cane haul roads and other agricultural pathways to extinguish brush fires quickly.

“We’ve never really experienced this before,” Trauernicht said. “Typically, (firefighters are) able to get between wildfires and communities. Here we’re seeing the worst possible outcome over issues we’ve been worrying about for years. When fire moves from home to home, it’s a whole ’nother challenge.”

The economic fallout will touch workers and businesses in many ways and also will take time to figure out, said Sherry Menor-McNamara, CEO and president of the Chamber of Commerce of Hawaii.

But, certainly, she said, “it will have a devastating impact. The fabric of the area won’t be the same. Building and recovery will be difficult, that will have a trickle-down domino effect.”

“Coming out of COVID, unfortunately we’re going to see some businesses close,” Menor-McNamara said. “Businesses do business with other businesses. It will have a long-term effect at a time when many neighbor island businesses are still recovering.”

As of Wednesday, Maui County had ordered 13 evacuations, closed 16 roads and opened five shelters.

Power also remained out to hotels and shelters, Bissen said.

Luke issued a flurry of three emergency proclamations related to the wildfires Wednesday morning, which followed an initial emergency proclamation she issued the day before about Hurricane Dora and wildfires on Maui and Hawaii island on behalf of Green, who was out of town.

The chamber was working on launching a business relief fund to help Maui, while other offers of aid — both large and small — began pouring in.

Within hours, the Maui Strong Fund at the Hawai‘i Community Foundation was at $1 million from people and organizations stepping up to help.

The three state senators who represent Maui County have set up donation sites at two locations around the state Capitol from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. today and again on Friday on the mauka side of the Capitol at the Father Damien statue on Beretania Street; and at the Capitol parking lot off of Miller Street. They will accept toiletries, diapers, formula, toys, clothing, bedding, household goods and nonperishable food, but no bottled water.

Upcountry Maui resident Anthony Nelson, who specializes in restoration, organized his young family to pull together donations to deliver to War Memorial Complex, where donations were being accepted. The Nelson donations consisted of “anything we could spare, nonperishable food, bedding, kids toys, stuff we can donate to help somebody’s life feel a little more normal.”

And then Nelson’s 6-year-old daughter — his oldest of two daughters — emptied her piggy bank and said, “they need it more than me.”

The War Memorial Gym, Hannibal Tavares Community Center, Maui High School and Maui Preparatory Academy serve as shelters.

A few dozen evacuees from Maui checked into Oahu’s shelter at the Hawai‘i Convention Center on Wednesday night.

Nelson warned of health dangers for people whose homes were spared but likely will be covered in soot.

“When smoke particulate mixes with lungs or moisture it turns to acid,” he said. “… So wear a respirator.”

But mostly Nelson grieved.

“When Hawaii’s burning,” he said, “my heart goes with it.”

Dean Rickard, co-coach of the Lahainaluna High School football team, told the Star-Advertiser in a text that, “Many of our Coaches & Players lost their homes and not sure when we’ll be able to return to Lahaina or when power will be restored … we all doing as best as can … this fire was devastating and way worst than the 2018 fire … Lahaina Town and whole neighborhoods went up in flames and is unrecognizable and looks more like a war zone … I had to evacuate my home and not sure if it’s still standing … my Parents, brother Todd, son’s, and daughter’s houses were destroyed … now we all just waiting to see extent of the damages and hoping my house still standing … we going need one rally point for the Ohana to stay strong for the long road ahead … it’s a fricken nightmare but just fortunate the man above kept our Ohana together and that we all made it out safely. Mahalo for your thoughts and prayers!!”

James Tokioka, director of the state Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism, which is working with the visitor industry to relocate Maui tourists, comes from Kauai and suggested that the Maui fires may have been worse than Hurricane Iniki, which devastated the Garden Isle in 1992.

“You could see the hurricane coming,” Tokioka said. “None of us were prepared for this.”

Jerry Gibson, president of the Hawai‘i Hotel Alliance, said in a statement that, “We’re trying to keep the lines of communication open to Lahaina and other parts of West Maui and the greater island.”

Chip Rogers, president and CEO of the American Hotel and Lodging Association, said in a statement that, “Given the state is discouraging nonessential travel into Maui, we encourage guests with pending travel to rebook at a future date.”

The two organizations are working to free up rooms on Oahu through DBEDT.

State Sen. Lynn DeCoite (D, East and Upcountry Maui-Molokai-Lanai) told the Star-Advertiser that the fires have left residents in shock.

“There’s a lot of traumatization going on,” she said. “I can’t put a finger on how devastating this is.”

Hawaiian Electric asked for patience as it works to get power restored to West Maui and Upcountry customers — and to “plan for extended outages” while crews remain concerned about safety and getting emergency responders through to fight the ever-shifting fires.

“Our focus right now is the safety of our communities, customers and workforce, and prioritizing power restoration to areas that our crews can safely access,” Hawaiian Electric spokesperson Shayna Decker said. “We continue to actively monitor the fluid wildfire situation and will move our restoration efforts to other areas if and as they become safe and accessible.”

Green cut his personal trip to Boston short by a week and was scheduled to arrive at midnight and be on Maui today, Luke said.

Pledges of support and messages of sympathy poured in, including from President Joe Biden, who said he has ordered “all available federal assets on the islands to help with response.”

In a statement released by the White House, Biden said, “Jill and I send our deepest condolences to the families of those who lost loved ones in the wildfires in Maui, and our prayers are with those who have seen their homes, businesses, and communities destroyed. We are grateful to the brave firefighters and first responders who continue to run toward danger, putting themselves in harm’s way to save lives.”

Biden’s predecessor, native son Barack Obama, wrote in a social media post that:

“It’s tough to see some of the images coming out of Hawai‘i — a place that’s so special to so many of us. Michelle and I are thinking of everyone who has lost a loved one, or whose life has been turned upside down.”

Kahului Council member Tasha Kama said, “I am devastated at the loss of lives, and the tremendous property losses and even chapters of our community’s history that we are currently witnessing.”