The U.S. Coast Guard announced Monday that it’s shifting its focus from combing the waters around Lahaina for bodies to cleaning up debris and pollution in the sea after a deadly wildfire destroyed much of the historic town.
As the deadly fire engulfed the historic seaside town, some of those trying to escape the flames jumped into the ocean.
“While the Coast Guard is always postured for search and rescue operations, we are also focused on minimizing maritime environmental impacts as a result of the Maui fires,” said Cmdr. Kyra Dykeman, the deputy incident commander for the Coast Guard Maui fire response, in a news release. “We reaffirm our unwavering commitment to the community we serve.”
The Coast Guard has been enforcing a “safety zone” from Wahikuli Wayside Park to Launiupoko Beach Park, extending 1 nautical mile seaward from the shoreline. Enforced by the Coast Guard’s Honolulu- based Maritime Safety and Security Team, officials say it’s critical to ensuring the safety of vessels and the environment until it has surveyed and accounted for all potential hazards.
The fire destroyed buildings on Lahaina’s waterfront, as well as severely damaging the harbor and many boats in it, leaving the water littered with debris and potential toxic leaks. The Coast Guard says it has deployed pollution response teams and equipment to the area, including a 100-foot boom — a temporary floating barrier used to contain oil spills and other potential contaminants — placed at the mouth of Lahaina Harbor.
Coast Guard divers from Regional Dive Locker Pacific also are working in coordination with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration using side-scan sonar and an underwater drone to map the Lahaina Channel and coastline off Lahaina to document potential hazards that would make the channel unsafe for passage.
The Coast Guard said it has also dispatched a National Strike Force that arrived on Maui on Friday to aid in the environmental response operation. In its media release, the Coast Guard said that “the NSF provides highly trained, experienced personnel and specialized equipment to the Coast Guard and other federal agencies to facilitate responses to oil and hazardous substance pollution incidents in order to protect public health and the environment.”
During a Friday news conference, Capt. Aja Kirksey, commander of Coast Guard Sector Honolulu, said that on Tuesday it received reports of “multiple persons needing rescue after fleeing from fire and smoke that had overtaken Lahaina, Maui” and that commanders had initially thought it would require a “mass rescue,” saying that reports from Lahaina at around 5:45 p.m. estimated up to 100 people were in the water.
The Coast Guard says it rescued 17 people from the water between Tuesday evening and Wednesday morning, while other state or Maui County agencies assisted more people in the water and some people left the water themselves. The Coast Guard also said that when it issued an emergency broadcast to mariners Tuesday, it got help from eight good Samaritan vessels working in coordination with Coast Guard aircraft and vessels.
The Coast Guard did say it found one unresponsive person in the water and does not know the status of that person. Coast Guard officials did not respond to emailed questions about whether the individual was recovered from the water or not.
Some Lahaina residents reported seeing bodies in the water Wednesday morning after the fires. On Friday, before the Coast Guard announced it would shift more attention to environmental cleanup, Kirksey said the Coast Guard was continuing search operations because of “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.”
The Coast Guard says it hasn’t rescued anyone else from the water since Wednesday morning.
In its Monday news release, the Coast Guard said that mariners with questions regarding transit of the safety zone, owners of vessels affected by the Lahaina fires and people with reports of pollution in and around Lahaina Harbor should call 808-723-0008. For all other questions or concerns, contact the Maui Emergency Operations Center at 808-205-9328.
