Hawaii fire recovery crews may find 10 to 20 dead a day, says Governor

Hawaii’s governor has warned scores more people could be found dead following the Maui wildfires.

The blazes that consumed most of the town of Lahaina are already the deadliest in the US in more than a century, with a death toll of at least 96.

Josh Green, the state’s governor, predicted more bodies would be found.

He said: “We are prepared for many tragic stories. They will find 10 to 20 people per day, probably, until they finish.

“And it’s probably going to take 10 days. It’s impossible to guess, really.”

As mobile phone service has slowly been restored, Mr Green said the number of people missing dropped to about 1,300 from more than 2,000.

Twenty cadaver dogs and dozens of searchers are making their way through blocks reduced to ash.

Jeff Hickman, director of public affairs for the Hawaii Department of Defense, said: “Right now, they’re going street by street, block by block between cars, and soon they’ll start to enter buildings.”

The blaze that swept into centuries-old Lahaina nearly a week ago destroyed almost every building in the town of 13,000, leaving a grid of grey rubble wedged between the blue ocean and lush green slopes.

That fire has been 85 per cent contained, according to officials. They added another blaze known as the Upcountry fire has been 60 per cent contained.

“There’s very little left there,” Mr Green said of Lahaina.

Some 4,500 people are in need of shelter, officials have said.

A tsunami in 1946, which killed more than 150 people, prompted the development of a territory-wide emergency alert system in Hawaii, with sirens tested monthly. But there is no record of warning sirens being sounded before the fire hit Lahaina.

Officials sent alerts to mobile phones, televisions and radio stations, but widespread power and phone outages may have limited their reach.