Maui Death Toll Reaches 111 as Evidence Suggests Power Lines May Have Started Fire

A Maui County emergency official also defended the decision not to sound sirens, saying it could have led residents "into the fire"

More than a week after devastating wildfires ripped through Maui, officials announced that the death toll has risen to 111 people.

"MPD and assisting partners have been working tirelessly to ensure that proper protocols are followed while notifying the families of the victims involved," the Maui Police Department wrote in a statement on Wednesday. "Our priority is to handle this situation with the utmost sensitivity and respect for those who are grieving."

Officials went on to release the names of all five victims whose identities have been confirmed.

"It is with a heavy heart that the County of Maui and the Maui Police Department confirms the following identities of the victims involved," they wrote. The victims have been identified as Robert Dyckman, 74, Buddy Jantoc, 79, Melva Benjamin, 71, Virginia Dofa, 90, and Alfredo Galinato, 79.

According to CNN, about 38% of the burn zone had been searched as of Wednesday afternoon, and 1,000 people were still missing, prompting an extensive search for more victims of the deadliest wildfire in United States history in more than 100 years.

The blaze's immersive gravity has even astonished officials such as Maui Police Chief John Pelletier. "No one has ever seen this that is alive today — not this size, not this number, not this volume," he said, per the outlet.

Related: After Fire Destroyed 'Sacred Place' Lahaina, Native Hawaiians Face 'Unimaginable' Trauma (Exclusive)

As the search and the arduous process of identifying the victims continues, questions about what caused the fires, as well as criticism of the government's response, persist.

The Washington Post, the Associated Press and ABC News reported that there's evidence that blown power lines may have caused the historic blaze.

On Aug. 7, just before 11 p.m. local time, a Maui Bird Conservation Center security camera captured a bright flash in the nearby woods in Makawao, per the outlets. Officials said the fire was reported "shortly after midnight."

Related: How to Help Hawaii Wildfire Victims, Including Ways to Donate

Along with the surveillance footage shared on Instagram, Jennifer Pribble, a senior research coordinator at the center, said, "I think that is when a tree is falling on a power line."

"The power goes out, our generator kicks in, the camera comes back online, and then the forest is on fire," she added.

Whisker Labs, a company that analyzes electrical grid data across the United States, said its Maui sensors recorded 122 faults between Aug. 7 and Aug. 8, with the company recording 27 faults around 5:00 AM local time Aug. 8, ABC News reported. All connection to their sensors in Lahaina was lost about 90 minutes later.

Bob Marshall, the founder and CEO of Whisker Labs, told the AP that the faults were similar to a series of circuit breakers tripping at the same time, and that they were notable for the amount of power lost.

Though he couldn't confirm that any of the sparks started a fire, he did note that there were numerous possibilities. “A substantial amount of energy was discharged,” said Marshall, adding that "any one of these faults could have caused a wildfire, any could have been an ignition source.”

When asked about the data from Whisker Labs, Hawaiian Electric — which is already facing a number of lawsuits, per CNN — said they "don't comment on pending litigation."

"At this early stage, the cause of the fire has not been determined and we will work with the state and county as they conduct their review," the company said in a statement to ABC News.

Meanwhile, Maui County Emergency Management Agency Administrator Herman Andaya has defended the decision not to sound sirens to warn residents of the deadly blaze, telling reporters on Wednesday that the alert system is primarily used for tsunamis.

"The public is trained to seek higher ground in the event that the siren is sounded," he said, per NBC News.

"Had we sounded the siren that night, we were afraid that people would have gone [to the mountainside]," Andaya said. "And if that’s the case, then they would have gone into the fire."

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Survivors told the outlet that as the fire raged, they encountered another issue while attempting to flee: the main route out of town was blocked by electric trucks.

Speaking to the network, Cole Millington, 26, said that the result was "epic bumper-to-bumper traffic while we were trying to escape."

Related: Lahaina Man Recounts Race Through a Wall of Fire That Leveled the Hawaiian Tourist Town

"You don’t want to be driving over live wires. But they were also starting to replace the poles while we were all trying to get out," added Millington. "We were like, get the f--- off the road and let us get by."

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