MAUI FIRE IS THE DEADLIEST IN A CENTURY IN THE U.S.

 MAUI FIRE IS THE DEADLIEST IN A CENTURY IN THE U.S.

MAUI FIRE IS THE DEADLIEST IN A CENTURY IN THE U.S.

The deadliest Wildfires in the United States in more than a century. It has been just one week since 1000-degree flames ripped through

Maui at 60 miles an hour, leaving behind a path of destruction and devastation that evokes comparisons to Ground Zero in the days after nine 11. Only five of the 106 individuals were confirmed killed. Only five have been identified in most cases.

All that is left of the dead is ash. Officials still do not know exactly how many residents of Maui are missing, and since just a third of the scorched area has been searched, only a third.

The death toll is almost certain to climb, authorities say. But today, some relief for frustrated residents of Maui, the key Lahaina bypass road, reopened to residents and responders. This will allow aid to flow into disaster-stricken areas.

Even around Lahaina, there are still some hot spots.

The hot spots up in the upcountry cooler fire in a moment. And we also actually spent some time with family who are sort of in this limbo now after giving DNA and fearing the worst about someone, they love so much.

So there's that part of the story as they're worried about but then we found men trying to put out hot spots with bottled water up in the high country.

Here's a look at an upcountry fire, only 60% contained. Maui's fire department stretched painfully thin and winds kicked up once again. Some residents around Kula are using sprinklers and hope to protect their homes.

There's a smoldering pit over there. And all it needs is a good winter to get it going.

By the time we got there, it was already flaming. We started with just a little smoke, and then we said, Okay, let's get some water haul. It's over there. It started flaming already.

So, you know, we're going to go back towards more water on it in this city. Smoky brush. One wrong step into smoldering ash means a burned foot.

I went to go check the word and the soot so you can't get through it. But they stay at it until they're spotted by a helicopter dropping water scooped from swimming pools, and they finally get the help they need.

And they wonder why more skilled firefighters aren't being brought over from Oahu. My mind is blown right now. I don't even know what's going on. How is this even happening? It's all roads that should be blocked out.

We should be blocked from operating on the farm. It should just be all your hands on that. I mean, you keep people on a wall, but they have enough personnel there. You are no more than I stayed up til two in the morning watching because I knew the gas station was going off and the propane tanks and, you know, my favorite store that I used to go get for gardening supplies, it's gone.

And the people that lost their homes, I was watching that. Brenda Keogh's 83-year-old mother-in-law was in her Lahaina home on the day of the firestorm. 

So now they are in grieving limbo as he accepted the idea that she's gone. Does he have to get confirmation before he can? I mean, the truth about it, is we accept that it is on the day that we saw that there's no house but there, you never give up hope.

So it's more when he needs to talk. I just check on and we check in on each other. We say, how are you doing mentally? Spiritually, physically, and emotionally. And we take time after each to check and answer. And you know, my husband was saying, oh, I'm okay. 

And I told him, no, you're not. And if people like you, are you okay? You know, you're not. The word is I'm concerned so much concern on so many levels.

We have updated the numbers from the cooler fire now. 75% contained. So a little bit of good news but still smoldering up there.

The warning siren alert system on Maui was tested just days before the fires broke out, but apparently, they did not go off or officials saying why they didn't We're hearing conflicting stories from the governor who at one point said some were immobilized yesterday.

He said some were broken. But for most people on the island, if they hear that sound, it is a tsunami warning. And so the instinct would be to run away from the ocean uphill, which in this case would have been more hazardous.

But a lot of locals say this was a time to reevaluate that warning system and have plans, have rallying points given a siren. Right now, they're flying planes over making announcements.

They probably couldn't have done that in those high winds last week. But there was also a text message alert that some people say, Some got and others didn't. So all parts of this are the ongoing investigation into what happened.

Additional mortuary, victim identification, and cadaver dog teams arrive on the island in the hardest hit areas.

Emergency Management Agency's goal is to get people displaced by the fire into stable housing environments. That is by far our most critical need right now.

At the moment, we've identified 2000 housing units they're available for this effort that includes vacation rentals that are going to be made available to house victims as well as hotel rooms.

So at the moment, we've got more than 100 families that have already been placed. And we are in the process of trying to find housing for these people who need stable safe housing so that they can only then begin to process what's happened to them.

A FEMA administrator, Criswell said she does not expect the search for those who were killed by this horrific event to be completely over.

By the time President Biden arrives on the island on Monday, What is your assessment of the timeline at the moment? There is no specific timeline.

We are so grateful to FEMA for their resources. We do have more than 40 K-9 teams that have been arriving on the island and my understanding is there's more to come.

We've got hundreds of search and rescue personnel that are going through the burned areas. This is going to take time. And so at the moment, it's a very careful, very respectful process.

We have to do this with compassion. The devastation is beyond comprehension for most of us. And so it is something that is being done very carefully, being very respectful to all of those involved and to those specifically who have lost their lives on this, unfortunately.

We don't have a specific timeframe in terms of how long it's going to take the recovery and a search and recovery process. It's always a push and pull when it comes to any president visiting a disaster area. They don't want to divert resources, but they also want to go and make sure everything is working as best they can.

We're very conscious of the fact that there is a crisis that we are responding to. And it is a very active situation right now and it's very fluid. At the same time, we are working with our federal partners. We're working with FEMA, we're working with the advanced teams to make sure that the work on the ground continues unaffected.

While at the same time making that available to the president and his team that we'll be traveling with him. So we are working through that now. And, you know, we'll make sure that we make it happen and do so respectfully.