Live stream: County of Maui wildfire disaster press conference, Aug. 29

Mayor Richard Bissen joined other county, state and federal officials in providing an update on wildfire disaster response efforts.

Interim Maui Emergency Management Agency administrator Darryl Oliveira said, now that the ground search is complete, the next step is EPA hazardous waste removal. After that has been completed, crews will start the “Return to Lahaina phase,” which is a re-entry effort.

Bob Fenton of the Federal Emergency Management, who serves as the Chief Federal Response Coordinator for the Lahaina wildfire disaster incident, said once the re-entry phase is done agencies will work with the US Army Corps of Engineers to initiate cleanup.

The FBI reports the number of unaccounted for will fluctuate as they merge lists from various sources. On Aug. 22, the agency said the unaccounted for list had the names of between 1,000 and 1,100 individuals.  On Aug. 24, Maui County officials released a list of 388 people  who have been reported as unaccounted for from the Aug. 8 Lahaina wildfire disaster. The list was narrowed by utilizing criteria that included first and last name and a human source that provided it. 

Maui Police Chief John Pelletier said the Maui Police Department is working on what he is calling a “credible list,” which is expected to be released on Friday. He said more than 200 people responded to the department’s email unaccounted@mpd.net after releasing the narrowed list last week. According to Chief Pelletier, 110 missing person reports have been filed with the department.

Of those 110 reports more than 50 are open cases that the department is “actively working.”

A full recap of the press briefing, including information from the coroner working on the case, information from FEMA and EPA efforts will be posted on Maui Now. Check back for further coverage of Maui’s recovery effort.

View Maui Now’s live stream HERE.