Maui police officers went house to house, walked seniors down flights of stairs and drove through the streets pleading with people to evacuate on the day a firestorm burned down Lahaina, killing at least 99 and leaving more than 7,000 people homeless.

The chaos caused by the fast-moving wildfire — and Maui police officers’ frantic efforts to save life and property — was captured through the lenses of body cameras worn by police Aug. 8.

Officers were tasked with managing evacuations as fires raged closer and closer to homes and businesses in Lahaina, Kula and Olinda.

Following a public-records request by the Honolulu Star-Advertiser and other news outlets for body-worn camera footage from police, on Monday the Maui Police Department began uploading about 20 hours of footage to a digital link.

Also Monday, Maui police held a news conference in Wailuku where they released a short package of body-worn camera highlights from Aug. 8. An after-action report of Maui police activities is expected to be complete in 18 to 24 months.

Maui County officials have come under intense scrutiny over the release of information about how evacuations were handled, defending the decision to not sound warning sirens as reports came in that roads were blocked off and many residents stuck in traffic died in vehicles along Front Street.

The first reports of fire were made sometime after 6 a.m. on the day of the fire, with the firestorm forcing many into the ocean to escape the flames well into the evening. To get a complete picture of the emergency response, requests have been made for all records on the day of the fire from the Maui Police Department, Maui Emergency Management, Maui Fire Department and county officials.

Monday’s release of a 16-minute, 10-second selection of footage from the Police Department begins in front of a sliding glass door on the second floor of a house on Hookahua Street off of Lahainaluna Road, next to an open field.

Each segment of body-worn camera footage is preceded by a map detailing the area where the footage was captured. The winds, which gusted up to more than 60 miles per hour, is heard ripping through the audio of some scenes.

It is 6:41 a.m. when an officer is seen banging on the glass doors and asking if anyone is inside.

A shirtless, elderly man opens the door, and the officer enters, tells him there is a fire and that it is time to go. The officer asks the man whether anyone is with him.

“No, I’m here by myself,” he says.

“Come on, come on,” the officer tells the man. “Do you have slippers?”

The shirtless man tells the officer his slippers are downstairs and the officer’s camera swings to the doorway that he is holding open.

“I get one guy inside this house. I going bring him out,” the officer is heard speaking to his dispatcher.

Two officers are seen helping the man down the stairs. When they reach the bottom, the man gestures toward fuel storage tanks, alerting the officers.

“That’s why we’re trying to get out of here,” a second officer responds.

One officer is seen holding the man by his hand and guiding him down a driveway. Multiple patches of fire dot the field behind a chain link fence, smoke swirling up around them.

At 6:49 a.m. the dashboard camera of an officer behind the wheel of a patrol car shows the view through his windshield while driving through smoke-filled streets.

He broadcasts, “Evacuate, evacuate,” through the loudspeaker on the outside of his patrol car as he drives through Kuialua, Kumukahi, Niheu, Liloa and Laalo streets, Kana Place and Hopoe, Hokeo and Hakau streets.

“Everybody evacuate immediately,” he is heard saying. “Evacuate your house.”

At 3:06 p.m. an officer is seen running toward the smoke billowing over the backyard of a yellow, two-story home on Hookahua Street.

He grabs a hose from a man on the property and starts watering down a shed that is ablaze from within.

“Eh, there’s a propane tank,” the officer yells to another officer, who can be seen wearing a green vest and running around the property.

The officer drops the hose and sprints toward the street.

Two minutes later an officer is seen running past an MPD SUV before turning into a driveway and running up to the first-floor door of a two-story home.

“Maui Police Department!” an officer shouts while knocking. A woman answers the door.

“The fire is starting up again, and this house is going to catch on fire pretty soon. They have propane tanks, so I would get out now,” the officer tells the woman through the door.

“OK,” she says, quickly turning away from the door.

“Grab everybody,” the officer tells her.

There is footage of officers calmly directing traffic near the Lahaina Gateway Plaza. At 4:10 p.m. a body-worn camera shows thick, black smoke shutting out the sky above Lahaina on Honoapiilani Highway near Fleming Street.

Cars turn left onto the highway off of Front Street while an MPD SUV blocks traffic toward Lahaina.

“I’ve been advised by multiple drivers that multiple power lines are down,” an officer is heard over the radio.

“Yeah, 10-4. … We have all locations holding. … Nothing we can do,” a female dispatcher is heard responding.

First responders are trained to block access and not to approach or handle downed utility lines until crews from the company arrive.

“We contacted MECO. They are doing the best they can,” a female officer is heard saying over a radio as the smoke from the fires carries out to sea.

At 4:31 p.m. an officer is seen helping families unlock an emergency access road near the Kelawea Mauka subdivision. At 4:46 p.m. an officer is seen stuck behind three cars trying to navigate a locked gate near a burning building. While shouting to the drivers to get moving, the officer gets out of his car, runs to the gate and, using a yellow utility lash, is seen pulling open the gate for the cars to safely drive through.

At 5:24 p.m. a patrol car is heard broadcasting the message to “head north on the highway” as it drives through smoke from Kapunakea, through Front, Kai Pali and other streets through to Unahiole Street.

“Everyone evacuate, head north on the highway,” the officer calmly repeats into his radio.

At 5:43 p.m. a female officer is recording while coming out of a house in the Kahoma Village subdivision. The officer goes door to door, knocking. An officer is heard over the radio saying that conditions are deteriorating in the area and it is time to get out.

“Is this your house?” she is heard yelling to a woman. “You know it’s (the fire) coming down, right? We’re evacuating people. It’s up to you, though.”

The officer turns away after she is told the family is leaving.

At 6:42 p.m. on Front Street, an officer is heard radioing that he has “15 trapped parties here” as he runs up to the door of a business.

“We can transport about six of them,” the officer says into his radio, his camera, obstructed. “We’re going to need more units down here.”

The blurred-out faces of people sheltering behind the glass doors of a business are seen as officers rush them out to safety.

“Come on, uncle, let’s go,” an officer is heard saying before looking into the back of the darkened storefront, making sure no one was left behind.