How the Maui fires compare with some of the deadliest U.S. wildfires

The Maui wildfire outbreak is already one of the deadliest in U.S. history even as the final death toll may not be known for another week.

Many of the country’s most fatal fires took place in the late 19th and early 20th centuries before modern wildfire prevention and fighting techniques. But the blaze in Maui is the deadliest wildfire in over 100 years, after the 2018 Camp Fire in Northern California that killed 85 people and consumed the town of Paradise.

The size of the Maui fire is a small fraction of the sprawling Camp fire, which burned over 150,000 acres. But its speed and locale made it especially deadly.

Violent winds, intensified by differences in atmospheric pressure from Hurricane Dora, and months of drought helped a series of blazes move at an astounding rate across the island. The fire’s quick descent on the historic town of Lahaina and a failure of some emergency sirens left residents with little time to evacuate. Much of the town was destroyed.

The death toll is expected to rise as the search for victims continues. In a news conference Thursday evening, Maui County Police Chief John Pelletier said he does not know what the final number might be.

“It’s going to be horrible and tragic when we get that number,” he said.

The Washington Post’s Kate Rabinowitz and Laris Karklis contributed to this report.