Authorities in Hawaii pleaded with relatives of those missing after the deadliest U.S. wildfire in more than a century to come forward and give DNA samples, saying the low number provided so far threatens to hinder efforts to identify any remains discovered in the ashes.

Trying to find this many missing people presents huge challenges for officials who are trying to determine how many of those perished and how many may have made it to safety but haven't checked in.

Survivors of deadly wildfires on Maui contended with intermittent power and unreliable cell service as they sought help rebuilding their lives. Experts, meanwhile, labored to find the dead and identify them.

The blazes that consumed most of the historic town of Lahaina are already the deadliest in the U.S. in more than a century

Maui residents who made desperate escapes from oncoming flames, some on foot, asked why Hawaii’s famous emergency warning system didn’t alert them as fires raced toward their homes.

Fuelled by a dry summer and strong winds from a passing hurricane, the fire started Tuesday and took the island by surprise, racing through parched growth and neighbourhoods in the historic town of Lahaina, a tourist destination that dates to the 1700s and is the biggest community on the island's west side.

Thousands of Hawaii residents raced to escape homes on Maui as blazes swept across the island, destroying parts of a centuries-old town and killing at least 36 people in one of the deadliest U.S. wildfires in recent years.

Honolulu Emergency Services Department spokesperson Shayne Enright told The Associated Press that the department has taken in burn patients from Maui but can’t confirm the number.

The world's largest volcano oozed rivers of glowing lava on Wednesday, November 30, 2022, drawing thousands of awestruck viewers who jammed a Hawaii highway that could soon be covered by the flow.