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UPDATE: 6:30 p.m.

The Maui Police Department announced the confirmed death toll is now at 111. Visit our live blog for the latest breaking news coverage.

2:15 p.m.

Maui Emergency Management Agency Administrator Herman Andaya today defended his experience and the decision not to activate emergency sirens warning Maui residents and visitors about the fast-moving fire that destroyed the historic town of Lahaina last week Tuesday.

Andaya said he did not regret his decision in response to a reporter’s question. Sirens are used primarily for tsunamis, not for brushfires, he said. The public is trained to seek higher ground when the siren is sounded, he said.

“Had we sounded the siren that night, we were afraid that people would have gone mauka,” he said, adding that people would have headed directly into the flames. Andaya added that there were no sirens located on the mauka or mountainside of Maui where the fires were spreading.

Hawaii’s siren system is described as the “largest single integrated public safety outdoor siren warning system in the world,” according to the County of Maui’s outdoor warning siren testing website. “The all-hazard siren system can be used for a variety of both natural and human-caused events; including tsunamis, hurricanes, dam breaches, flooding, wildfires, volcanic eruptions, terrorist threats, hazardous material incidents, and more,” the website said.

Andaya said the day of the fire most people were indoors with their air conditioning on, and they wouldn’t have heard the siren, especially with the winds gusting and blaring outside.

“I heard it was very loud, so they wouldn’t have heard the sirens,” he said.

Gov. Josh Green said the issue would be examined in a comprehensive review that he has ordered state Attorney General Anne Lopez to oversee and clarified that it is not a criminal investigation. “We view this as a way to learn and to share, in this case, from our tragedy, how to best protect people all across this planet,” Green said.

Green said that when he moved to Hawaii and lived on the coast, he would have been thinking tsunami if he had heard the siren go off. But he said the review would look at best practices for how to warn people.

1:33 p.m.

Gov. Josh Green announced this afternoon that the confirmed death toll has risen to 110 in Maui wildfires.

The first two names of victims from the Aug. 8 inferno were released by Maui County on Tuesday night. They were Robert Dyckman, 74, and Buddy Jantoc, 79, both of Lahaina. Other identities have not been officially released pending notification of the next of kin.

The search for victims continues in Lahaina today as firefighters continue to fight raging fires on Maui.

The Hawaii Department of Transportation installed dust screens around Lahaina — which remains off limits to the public — to reduce the spread of potentially hazardous materials. The measure comes after the opening of the Lahaina Bypass on Aug. 15 and is designed to protect highway users along the bypass and Honoapiilani Highway (Route 30).

Maui County Police Chief John Pelletier said the dust screen blocks debris and also obstructs the view of the Lahaina devastation.

“We don’t need people stopping over on the side (of the road) and trying to exploit some of the different things that are going in,” Pelletier said. “It’s a large scene and so, we’re going to ask that you travel to and from where you need to go and don’t pull over because you are going to be warned and then you are going to be towed. We’re not saying this to be mean or callous, we’re saying that because we need to get this done right.”

A mobile morgue unit arrived Tuesday in Wailuku as officials painstakingly worked to identify the remains.

Earlier today, Maui County said 35 autopsies have been completed and seven were identified. Sixteen DNA profiles had been obtained from human remains and 52 DNA samples had been collected from family members of missing people.

Green said Biden this morning approved 100% federal disaster relief for Hawaii, making federal funding available to those affected on Maui.

To help affected victims, Maui Mayor Richard Bissen said he has authorized waiving property taxes this year to help families recover through the tragedy.

“That includes structures as well as land,” Bissen said. “The taxes that have already been paid will be refunded to those families.”

EARLIER COVERAGE

Gov. Josh Green and Maui Mayor Richard Bissen along with other government officials are holding a press conference today Wailuku at 1:30 p.m. to discuss the disaster response to Maui wildfires. Officials with the Maui Emergency Management Agency and Dual Status Commander of Joint Task Force-50 will also be in attendance.

The wildfires have claimed the lives of at least 106 people on Maui and remain the deadliest U.S. wildfire in over a century. Visit our live blog for the latest breaking news coverage.

According to the White House, President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden are planning to visit Maui Monday to tour the devastation.