Photos: At least 53 die in fires burning in Hawaii

Maui's wildfires have killed at least 53 people and turned the resort town of Lahaina into smoldering ruins that will take many years and billions of dollars to rebuild, Hawaiian officials said on Thursday.

The fast-moving inferno caught the island of Maui off guard after at least three major fires broke out on Tuesday, cutting off the western side of the island. Some people fled the flames by jumping into the Pacific Ocean.

Flames roared throughout the night, forcing adults and children to dive into the ocean for safety. Officials said earlier that 271 structures were damaged or destroyed and dozens of people injured. On Wednesday, crews were continuing to battle blazes in several places on the island. Authorities urged visitors to stay away.

As winds eased somewhat on Maui, some flights resumed Wednesday, allowing pilots to view the full scope of the devastation. Aerial video from Lahaina showed dozens of homes and businesses razed, including on Front Street, where tourists once gathered to shop and dine. Smoking heaps of rubble lay piled high next to the waterfront, boats in the harbor were scorched, and gray smoke hovered over the leafless skeletons of charred trees.

State Department of Education Superintendent Keith Hayashi said in a statement Wednesday that a team is working on contingency plans and preparing for the possible loss of an elementary school that had been in Lahaina for more than a century. The Coast Guard said it rescued 14 people who jumped into the water to escape flames and smoke, including two children.

Among those injured were three people with critical burns who were flown to Straub Medical Center’s burn unit on the island of Oahu, officials said. At least 20 patients were taken to Maui Memorial Medical Center, officials said, and a firefighter was hospitalized in stable condition after inhaling smoke.

Richard Bissen Jr., the mayor of Maui County, said at a Wednesday morning news conference that he didn't have details on how or where on the island the six deaths occurred. He said officials hadn't yet begun investigating the immediate cause of the fires, but officials did point to the combination of dry conditions, low humidity and high winds.

More than 2,100 people spent Tuesday night in evacuation centers. Another 2,000 travelers sheltered at Kahului Airport after many flights were canceled. Officials were preparing the Hawaii Convention Center in Honolulu to take in thousands of displaced tourists and locals.

President Joe Biden said he'd ordered all available federal assets to help with the response. He said the Hawaii National Guard had mobilized Chinook helicopters to help with fire suppression as well as search and rescue efforts on Maui. “Our prayers are with those who have seen their homes, businesses, and communities destroyed," Biden said in a statement.

said firefighters had needed to extinguish some roof fires and there were continuing flareups of one fire near the Mauna Kea Resorts. The National Weather Service said Hurricane Dora, which was passing to the south of the island chain, was partly to blame for the strong winds.

About 14,500 customers in Maui were without power early Wednesday. With cell service and phone lines down in some areas, many people were struggling to check in with friends and family members living near the wildfires. Some were posting messages on social media.

Fires in Hawaii are unlike many of those burning in the U.S. West. They tend to break out in large grasslands on the dry sides of the islands and are generally much smaller than mainland fires. A major fire on the Big Island in 2021 burned homes and forced thousands to evacuate.

People wait on the side of the road to return to west Maui after wildfires driven by high winds were believed to have destroyed much of the historic town of Lahaina, in Kahului, Hawaii.