U.S. Coast Guard Provides Update as Hawaii Wildfire Death Toll Rises to 67

On Friday evening, Maui County reported that 12 additional fatalities had been confirmed as of 1 p.m. local time amid an active wildfire in Lahaina

Hawaii continues to do everything possible to fight the effects of the devastating wildfires that are taking place in Maui.

On Friday evening, Maui County reported that 12 additional fatalities had been confirmed as of 1 p.m. local time amid an active wildfire in Lahaina. The update turned the previously reported total death toll of 55 individuals to a new total of 67.

The devastating development comes after U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra declared a public health emergency for the state of Hawaii, allowing "the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ (CMS) health care providers and suppliers greater flexibility in meeting emergency health needs of Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries."

Related: Everything to Know About the 2023 Hawaii Wildfires, Including Ways to Help the Victims

It followed President Joe Biden's disaster declaration on Thursday that allowed federal funding to become available for people affected throughout the area.

“What we saw today was likely the largest natural disaster in Hawaii's state history,” said Governor Josh Green in a news release following Biden's declaration. “It’s going to take a great deal of time to recover from this, but we have the support from every level of government all the way up to the federal level, especially given President Biden’s approval of my disaster declaration request today. It will be a tremendous effort, but we will come together as a community and begin working toward rebuilding from this tragedy.”

As the island continues its search and rescue efforts, the U.S. Coast Guard shared in a press release on Friday that it "has saved 17 lives, with 40 additional survivors located and assisted ashore by U.S. Coast Guard Station Maui. "

The Coast Guard shared that it has conducted a search of more than 450 square nautical miles that lasted over 15 hours and does not have any confirmed missing person in the water at this time.

Those who were rescued by the Coast Guard were said to be in "stable condition" and were found in the vicinity of Lahaina harbor, explained Capt. Aja L. Kirksey, Sector Commander of Coast Guard Sector Honolulu, during a briefing broadcasted by NBC News.

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The Lahaina area is considered the biggest community on the island’s west side and is one that local resident Keao Shaw shared with PEOPLE has "just about every house" gone.

"The fire was everywhere. It was up in the hills, it was down in the buildings, and [it was in] all the houses. It's all the way down to the beach," he expressed while recounting his experience to PEOPLE. "People were running for their lives."

Shaw, who runs a charter boat business in Maui, told PEOPLE he lost his house and "one of the boats, probably the more important boat. Yeah, [on] top of that, the kids were about to go to school but both their schools burned down."

"My three-year-old, I don't think she has a great understanding of what happened. But my five-year-old, it's hitting him, he lost all his favorite books. He really wants to learn how to read and he's trying to do that," Shaw said. "All his favorite things are gone. They had a pretty great life up until now, and this is pretty hard on them. Lost his bike and everything else, but everything [is] replaceable, everything rebuildable, but it's just going to take time."

Following Friday's updates, the state is now facing the largest natural disaster in its history, per CNN. Previously, the state's highest natural disaster death toll was 61, according to CBS News, following a tsunami that hit Hilo Bay in 1960.

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