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The number of people on the official list of those missing from the Maui wildfire stood at 385 on Friday, nearly unchanged from a week earlier.
In a news release, the Maui Police Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation said 245 people on the list of 388 made public the previous week were located and removed. However, a nearly equal number of new names were added.
The updated total was a startling departure from what had been expected — a day earlier Gov. Josh Green said he believed the number would fall below 100.
“We think the number has dropped down into the double digits, so thank God,” Green said in a video posted to social media.
After Maui police released the updated list, the governor said the numbers of fatalities and missing are often in flux in mass casualty events until investigations are completed.
“Exact numbers are going to take time, perhaps a long time, to become finalized,” Green said in a statement provided through a spokesperson.
He said there are less than 50 “active missing person cases.” He didn’t elaborate but indicated those are the people for whom more information was provided than the minimum to be on the missing list compiled by the FBI. It only requires a first and last name provided by a person with a verified contact number.
Gao Shan/Xinhua via Getty Images
Authorities have said at least 115 people died in the blaze that swept through Lahaina, the deadliest wildfire in the U.S. in more than a century. So far, the names of 50 people have been publicly released and five others have been identified but their identities withheld because next of kin haven’t been reached. The rest have yet to be identified.
The flames turned the picturesque seaside town into rubble in a few short hours on Aug. 8. Wind gusts topping 60 mph ripped through the town, causing the flames to spread exceptionally quickly.
Lahaina has deep significance in Hawaiian history as the one-time capital of former Hawaiian kingdom and as the home to high-ranking chiefs for centuries. In recent decades, the town became popular with tourists, who ate at its oceanfront restaurants and marveled at a majestic 150-year-old banyan tree.
Half the town’s 12,000 residents are now living in hotels and short-term vacation rentals. The Environmental Protection Agency is leading an effort to clean hazardous waste left in a burn zone stretching across some 5 square miles.
Reconstruction is expected to take years and cost billions.
Initially more than 1,000 people were believed unaccounted for based on family, friends or acquaintances reporting them as missing. Officials narrowed that list down to 388 names who were credibly considered missing and released the names to the public last week.
New names on Friday’s updated list were added from the Red Cross, shelters and interested parties who contacted the FBI, Maui Police Chief John Pelletier said. He urged family members of the missing to submit their genetic data to help identify their relatives.
“If you have a loved one that you know is missing and you are a family member, it’s imperative that you get a DNA sample,” Pelletier said in a video posted to Instagram.
The cause of the fire hasn’t been determined, but it’s possible powerlines from downed utility poles ignited the blaze. Maui County has sued Hawaiian Electric, the electrical utility for the island.
The utility acknowledged its power lines started a wildfire early on Aug. 8 but faulted county firefighters for declaring the blaze contained and leaving the scene, only to have a second wildfire break out nearby.
Local government officials have faced significant criticism for their response both before, during and after the Lahaina fire, one of several which sparked on Maui on Aug. 8.
Maui County Mayor Richard Bissen has been vague as to his actions as the Lahaina fire was spreading. In an interview Bissen gave to local station KITV-TV, just after 6 p.m. on Aug. 8, he said, “I’m happy to report the road is open to and from Lahaina.”
However, Bissen was seemingly unaware that, at that point, much of downtown Lahaina was already ablaze. And while it was Bissen’s job to ask the state for emergency backup, the mayor told reporters this week he did not call the Hawaii Emergency Management Agency.
“I can’t speak to what — or whose responsibility it was to communicate directly,” Bissen told CBS News this week. “I can’t say who was responsible for communicating with General Hara.”
Major General Kenneth Hara, the director of the Hawaii Emergency Management Agency, said in a recent interview with Hawaii News Now that he was initially unaware of crucial details about the fire.
“I thought everyone had gotten out safely,” he said. “It wasn’t until probably the next day I started hearing about fatalities.”
Amid calls for his resignation, Bissen released a video statement Thursday in which he said:
“I want to be clear and repeat, that I have been present in our emergency operations center, since Aug. 7,” adding he did “become aware of fatalities” until Aug. 9.
“My first thoughts are, we should really get to all of the facts, whatever they may be, good or bad, that is a deeply personal discussion for any mayor and his or her constituents to have,” Green told CBS News in an interview Friday when asked whether Bissen should resign.
On Aug. 17, a little over a week after the fire broke out, Herman Andaya resigned from his post as chief of the Maui Emergency Management Agency, just one day after he publicly defended his controversial decision not to activate the island’s warning sirens when the Lahaina fire was spreading.
Andaya argued that sounding the sirens could have created confusion by sending Lahaina residents into the path of the blaze because they may have thought the sirens were signaling a tsunami, not a wildfire.
“The public is trained to seek higher ground in the event that the sirens are sounded,” Andaya told reporters on Aug. 16.
“Had we sounded the sirens that night, we were afraid that people would have gone mauka (mountainside), and if that was the case, they would have gone into the fire,” he added.
Andaya has since been replaced by Darryl Oliveira, a former Hawaii Fire Department chief who also served as the head of the Hawaii County Civil Defense Agency.
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Flight bound for Hawaii aborts takeoff from LAX due to 'unstable nose wheel' as smoke billows on runway
There are no reported injuries. Air traffic was briefly halted as a precaution, but operations have since resumed.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is investigating after a commercial flight bound for Hawaii safely aborted takeoff Friday due to an “unstable” nose wheel.
The crew of Hawaiian Airlines Flight 33 “safely aborted takeoff” from Los Angeles International Airport at about 8 a.m., according to a statement from the FAA.
Footage of the incident showed black smoke billowing from the bottom of the plane as it slowly turned around on the runway.
A Hawaiian Airlines Airbus A321 departs Los Angeles International Airport en route to Kailua-Kona, Hawaii. (Kevin Carter/Getty Images / Getty Images)
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Before takeoff, HA33 experienced a “vibration” in the nose wheel, a Hawaiian Airlines spokesperson told FOX Business.
As a precaution, the pilots returned to the gate, where the Airbus A330, bound for Kahului Airport in Hawaii, arrived without incident.
“Guests were deplaned as mechanics assessed and later resolved the issue,” according to the airline spokesperson.
The aircraft departed LAX at 11:48 a.m. local time and was en route to Kahului Airport, as of 5:50 p.m. ET.
A Hawaiian Airlines Airbus A321 departs Los Angeles International Airport. (Kevin Carter/Getty Images / Getty Images)
“The safety of our employees and guests is our priority, and we sincerely apologize for any inconvenience,” according to a statement from Hawaiian Airlines, which was acquired by Alaska Airlines last year.
FAA officials will investigate.
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| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
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| ALK | ALASKA AIR GROUP INC. | 45.76 | +1.25 | +2.81% |
Among a number of incidents on commercial aircraft this year, a passenger on an American Airlines flight that caught fire in March filed a lawsuit against the airline.
Jerry Adamson, who was aboard a Boeing 737-800 aircraft that caught fire March 13, sued the airline in Denver District Court for negligence and misconduct, according to court documents.
The plane was headed toward Dallas Fort Worth International Airport before being diverted 20 minutes into the flight to Denver International Airport.
A Hawaiian Airlines Airbus A321 at San Diego International Airport. (Kevin Carter/Getty Images / Getty Images)
Attorneys allege the airline and its staff failed to use “reasonable care” in the maintenance and operation of the aircraft and argued the flight crew knew about the engine problems and “chose to taxi with an improperly functioning engine rather than request airport assistance,” FOX Business previously reported.
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The lawsuit claims the flight crew told Denver air traffic controllers it would not declare an emergency and rejected assistance when it arrived, leading to the right engine catching fire eight minutes after landing.
Adamson and other passengers allegedly “inhaled copious amounts of smoke and fire retardant” while evacuating the plane and were taken to a hospital for treatment, according to court documents.
FOX Business’ Landon Mion contributed to this report.
HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – A popular Nagoya ramen shop is serving its award-winning dishes in Waikiki.
Taiga Ramen is the sister restaurant of Josui Ramen, a Michelin Bib Gourmand eatery in Japan, and its Los Angeles outpost in Torrance.
The shop is in the International Market Place, on the second floor inside Mitsuwa Marketplace food court, and open daily 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Taiga Ramen chefs Kevin Buenaventura and Eisenhower Chhuon joined HNN’s Sunrise to talk about opening the first Taiga Ramen outside of Japan in August 2023.
Buenaventura trained in Japan and opened the Josui Ramen in Los Angeles, before bringing Taiga to Honolulu.
Their popular dishes include its signature Josui Ramen, TanTan Ramen, Shoyu Ramen, Shio Ramen, gyoza, karaage and chashu fried rice.
The ramen broth is a mix of pork, chicken and fish, which serves as a base for the tantan ramen and includes sweet pork miso, sesame paste, and house-made rayu chile oil. It’s topped with minced pork.
For more information, visit josuiramen.jp or follow on Instagram at @taigaramen808.
Copyright 2025 Hawaii News Now. All rights reserved.
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