​​Up to about 100 people sought refuge in the water to escape the smoke and fire that burned down much of Lahaina, U.S. Coast Guard officials said Friday.

Capt. Aja L. Kirksey, commander of Coast Guard Sector Honolulu, said it received reports of “multiple persons needing rescue after fleeing from fire and smoke that had overtaken Lahaina, Maui,” in a news conference Friday afternoon.

Kirksey said the Coast Guard had initially thought it would require a “mass rescue,” saying that reports from Lahaina Tuesday at around 5:45 p.m. estimated up to 100 people were in the water.

The Coast Guard rescued 17 people from the water between Tuesday evening and Wednesday morning, other state or Maui County agencies assisted more people in the water, and some people left the water themselves.

All the rescued individuals were in stable condition, she said.

“Our crews … encountered victims that were in the water and also on the sea wall,” she said, later adding, “The Coast Guard rescued 17 (people); the others were assisted by other agencies. The initial number of 100 was an estimate.”

The agency is still trying to get more clarity on the number of people who were actually in the water at the time of the fire.

On Tuesday, the Coast Guard issued an emergency broadcast to mariners, which “resulted in a response by eight good Samaritan vessels,” along with air and sea vessels from the Coast Guard.

No additional rescues have been made since then.

The Coast Guard did say it found one unresponsive person in the water. Coast Guard officials did not know the status of that person.

The agency is continuing its search and rescue mission; however, “The reason that we continued searching was in case we received additional reports of confirmed victims entering the water and in need of assistance, but there have been no confirmed missing persons that we believe are in the water,” Kirksey said.

Some 300 Coast Guard personnel so far have responded to the Lahaina fire and the effort has expanded beyond search and rescue efforts, and now includes “public, maritime and environmental responsibilities,” she said.

More equipment is being sent to Maui from Honolulu to assist in its efforts.