The fire destroyed 2.2 thousand buildings, 500 buildings were damaged, authorities said. Residents of the town of Lahaina, located in the north of the island of Maui, are concerned that speculators will acquire the scorched land. The fire practically wiped the city off the face of the earth. The Governor ordered the Attorney General to impose a moratorium on real estate transactions.
Local authorities urged Lahaina residents not to sell property for next to nothing. Americans were asked to report the placement of such ads to the state department of consumer protection.
To date, 114 people have been identified as victims of the Maui wildfires. More than a thousand are considered missing. Some of the residents managed to evacuate, but many citizens learned of the impending danger not from local authorities, but only when they saw the impending wall of fire and smoke. When the fires approached Lahaina, the city didn’t even sound the alarms. Some residents, trying to get out of the fire trap, jumped into the ocean, where they spent several hours in cold water, waiting for rescuers.
The fires on the island started last week. The fire area increased rapidly due to the strong winds caused by Hurricane Dora.
