mahalo mehr richard bissen and — mahalo. mahalo mehr richard bissen and at _ mahalo.acted by this truly, truly tragic event. and i have the opportunity today to spend the day with govenor green and see first—hand really what this devastation is and i was watching this over the news over the past few days and you can see how tragic it is, it really doesn't put it, you know, into a full picture until you're on the ground and you see the level of devastation that the community has experienced. i have the opportunity today to talk with both the governor and mayor beeson about what their needs work and this is really why i came, we needed to see first—hand what the challenges are going to be —— bissen. talk to the governor and the mayor to the governor and the mayor to hear what their concerns are and what resources they will need as we go forward. but then i also wanted to talk to the people who had been impacted and i had an opportunity to go to the war memorial shelter and talk to those families who have been staying there and i heard their stories, been staying there a

mayor bissen, you are the highest-ranking official here on the island. is that possible? >> i can't speak to what or whose responsibility it was to communicate -- >> reporter: but you are the boss of this island, so yes, you can speak to it. >> i am saying i cannot speak who was responsible for speaking with general hara. >> reporter: major general kenneth hara, director of emergency management, said in a recent interview he was initially unaware of crucial details. >> i thought everybody had gotten out safely. it wasn't until probably the next day that i started hearing about some fatalities. >> reporter: don't you think it was important for your agency to know about the deaths? >> i don't think i could have done anything about that. >> reporter: he did not clarify exactly where he was, as the fire gained strength. we don't know how many other people maybe died waiting for response, your agency -- >> personally, i don't think so, we have been looking at -- >> what i'm trying to say is that fire is so rapid and by the time everyone had situational awaren

joining me is richard bissen, mayor of maui county.for joining us. >> thank you for having me on. >> juju: i know that you and the governor got a firsthand look at the devastation. he called it a heartbreaking day. what did you see? >> we saw what used to be a vibrant town full of residents, full of visitors. turn into a ghost town. there are no more buildings. cars are still in the road, some with doors open. indicating people had to run. and what's left is very little of what it used. >> juju: heartbreaking. with the hospitals overwhelmed and residents displaced, you said everything's gone in that area. what are your priorities tonight? >> our priorities is continue to fight fires. they're not completely contained. next is to save lives. if we can. find people who may have sheltered somewhere. if not, recover those folks that may have perished so that we can bring closure to their families. then, of course, we are trying to assess the amount of damage and what it will take to clear the debris and to rebuild. we absolutely will rebuil

. >> mayor bissen, you are the highest ranking official here on the island. if the buck stops with your office, how is that possible? >> yeah, i can't speak to what or who is responsible to communicate -- >> but you are the boss of this island. yes, you can speak to it. >> is that an answer? >> i can't say who was responsible for communicating with general hara. >> reporter: the director of the state's emergency management agency, said he was initially unaware of crucial details. >> i thought everyone had gotten out safely. it wasn't until probably the next day i started hearing about fatalities. >> don't you think it was important for your agency to know about the deaths? >> i don't think i could have done anything about that. >> reporter: he did not clarify exactly where he was as the fire gained strength. we don't know how many died waiting for a response. you don't think there is anything -- >> i don't think so. >> we have been looking at the timeline -- >> i am trying to say that fire was so rapid and by the time everyone had situational awareness, it wa

were of the conditions on the ground august 8th, in part because of this interview mayor richard bissen gave to local station kitv just after 6:00 p.m. >> i'm happy to report that the road is open to and from lahaina. >> reporter: but, in fact, by this point the fire had already spread into downtown lahaina. >> oh, my god. i can't see anything. we're surrounded by [ bleep ] fire. >> reporter: the mayor seemingly unaware that much of downtown was ablaze, and many residents were either caught in or were fleeing the flames. >> we have reports of structures, older buildings that have been burned in lahaina. we actually -- our update is actually going to come in at about 7:00 p.m. >> reporter: and late to comprehend just how devastating the fires actually were. and we reached out to the mayor's office for comment and have not heard back. the state attorney general's office is now investigating, and we have heard back from them. they tell me they are, quote, advising state actors to refrain from commenting on this pending investigation, norah. investigation, norah. >> jonathan vigliott i'm pa

. >> reporter: and yet maui mayor richard bissen would not say what he was doing. emergency backup. but admitted he did not place a single call in the hours during or long after the fire. mayor bisson, you are the highest ranking official here on the island. if the buck stops with your office, how is that possible? >> i can't speak to what or who's responsibility it was to communicate -- >> reporter: but you are the boss of a silent, so yes, you can speak to it. >> i am saying i cannot speak who was responsible for speaking with kenneth hara. >> reporter: said in a recent interview he was initially unaware of crucial details. >> i thought everybody had gotten off safely. it wasn't until probably the next day that i started hearing about some fatalities. >> reporter: don't you think it was important for your agency to know about the deaths? >> i don't think i could have done anything about that. >> he did not clarify exactly where he was. as the fire gained strength. >> reporter: nome we don't know how may people made the dying waiting for response, your agency -- >

were of the conditions on the ground august 8th, in part because of this interview mayor richard bissenr 6:00 p.m. >> i'm happy to report that the road is open to and from lahaina. >> reporter: but by this point the fire had already spread into downtown lahaina. >> oh, my god, i can't see anything. we are surrounded by [bleep] fire. >> reporter: the mayor unaware that much of downtown was ablaze. and many residents were either caught in or were fleeing the flames. >> we have reports of structures, older buildings that have been burnt in lahaina. we actually -- our update is going to come in at about 7:00 p.m. >> reporter: and late to comprehend just how devastating the fires actually were. and we reached out to the mayor's office for comment and have not heard back. the state attorney general's office is now investigating and we have heard back from them. they tell me they are "advising state actors to refrain from commenting on this pending investigation." norah. >> norah: jonathan vigliotti with the new reporting, thank you very much. tonight leaders of some of the nation's largest ci

. >> reporter: and maui mayor richard bissen would not say what he was doing. not place a single call in the hours during or long after the fire. >> mayor bissen, you are the highest ranking official here on the island. if the buck stops with your office, how is that possible? >> i can't speak to what or who's responsibility -- >> but you're the boss of this island. so you can speak, sir. >> i'm saying i can't say who was responsible for communicating with general harrah. >> reporter: major general kenneth harrah, director of the state's emergency management agency said in an interview he was not aware of details. >> i thought everyone had gotten out safely. it wasn't until the next day i started hearing about some fatalities. >> reporter: don't you think it was important for your agency to know about the deaths? >> i don't think i could have done anything about that. >> reporter: he did not clarify exactly where he was as the fire gained strength. >> we don't know how many other people maybe died waiting for a response. you don't think there is anything your a

we're expecting to hear from governorjosh green and maui mayor richard bissen.t's the deadliest natural disaster the state had suffered for generations. josh green told cnn as many as 1,700 buildings have been destroyed, and 11,000 people are without power in west maui. he issued a warning about the death toll saying: hawaii's governor toured the damage to the historic town of laihaina, and posted this video on social media. aloha why. i'm you can see the devastation in lahaina, on front street. with the senator in the mouth. it is tragically gone. many people are suffering. the fidelity numbers will climb today. everyone, love your neighbours and support them because this is devastating for maui. we probably have well over 1000 buildings destroyed. many, many hundreds of families have been displaced. we will rebuild them. the president has already in six hours authorised and approved request for emergency support. it's going to be a long haul. the devastation is behind me and we'll put hobart in front of us. aloha. live now to rich elliott, he's deputy chief of

. —— mayor, richard bissen. the preparedness of maui ahead of the wildfire. as we await the press conference, which should be taking place injust press conference, which should be taking place in just a few minutes, scheduled for liz30pm local time there in maui, you can recapture you some of the latest numbers and updates we are getting in from hawaii. as we've heard, the death toll now stands at about 80 people dead and, as we've heard from local officials, including the governor himself, the total is likely to increase as search and rescue teams continue to now look through the town of lahaina. we understand many of those rescue efforts are beginning in full force and many people have not been able to get a look inside the affected buildings, so the 80 people dead now, the death toll, is expected to rise there. we also have estimates coming in from fema and an agency called the pacific disaster centre, they've been doing some assessments of the damage and we've been looking at some absolutely devastating vide

we walked from end to end today as a team mayor bissen for the county senator schatz, the federal level and myself, plus all of our teams. and what we saw was likely the largest natural disaster in hawaii state history. and during that news conference, an emergency official said that recovery for the island would take years and cost billions of dollars. california one of several states sending first responders to hawaii to help with the rescue and recovery efforts. ktvu is jesse gary spoke with some of those now getting involved with her dog emmy by her side, red cross central coast ceo michelle avril is packed and ready to enter the breach. by midday friday. she'll be on the ground in maui working as a government liaison to get information and help to those who need it most. i've been able to provide that up to date information. our electeds feel as though they are geared with everything that they need to be able to provide as much support as they can. avril is one of 13 red cross volunteers to make the trip. additionally california governor gavin newsom thursday deploying some of the

we treat each other with aloha, and mayor bissen, who is a good friend of mine, we've been communicatingbit about this. we have family members that are over there. we have friends that are over there. we still have people in our county that are looking for their family members over there. it's a big deal for us. when someone in your family has something that goes wrong, people naturally come to help. and that's what the whole state is doing, not just our island. we had our fire. we got done with that. and now it's time to give back to the rest of our family, the rest of our state. >> some residents are now, of maui, are speaking up, and wondering why they weren't able to have more of a warning, thinking they should have been able to have more of a warning and how dangerous the fires were becoming and how quickly. i spoke with a maui city council woman a little while ago, and she said we do need to do better looking forward. but overnight maui's police chief said no one saw this coming. do you think that's the case, mayor? >> well, i would agree that they didn't see it coming to that agre

maui county mayor richard bissen described the scene in lahaina in an interview with abc news on sundayhe closest thing i can compare to is perhaps a war zone where made a bomb went off. cars were in the street, doors opened. melted to the ground. most structures no longer exist for blocks and blocks. i am familiar what it looked like growing up here in maui, especially with my mom working for one of the restaurants for 17 years. it doesn't resemble anything that looks like when i was growing up. amy: meanwhile, many residents are asking why hawaii's outdoor siren warning system with about 80 alarms on the island of maui alone did not get activated to warn residents about the fire. hawaii emergency management agency spokesperson told cnn -- "nobody at the state and nobody at the county attempted to activate those sirens based on our records. it was largely a function of how fast the flames were moving. they were trying to coordinate response on the ground." hawaii officials released a report last year that ranked which natural disasters residents would most likely be threatened by and t

now earlier this morning, mayor bissen said the up country fires were not contained and 1100 acres have burned. it's safe to assume more acres have burned since then. but this wind has penned relentless and it keeps falling. and the smoke is now finally decreasing. but it is making its way down to key. hey, making the air quality. i'm sure quite bad down there. we went over to a cooler loni and i know cooler areas. homes were completely burned to the ground, including cars. there are some homes right next door where they were totally find. i spoke to one of those girls who said that her house remained intact simply because she thinks put enough water on top of her roof and others just smart weren't so lucky. spokesman other ladies that the community came together to help protect your home and save her home. and then we had a or residents who evacuated right up here to a country. and here's what one of them had to say. >> we were just going to her feet. so we weren't going to able to hear the the interview that she was getting from the tape. but just to update a description because it st

maui county mayor richard bissen says 850 names are now on the combined list of missing persons. only a few of the dead have been identified and relatives are being asked to submit dna samples to help identify those that are still missing in maui. robert ray, ktvu fox two news. a team of bay area firefighters is on a flight to maui right now as ctv's allie rasmus explains. members of the group are using their own vacation time to spend the next week on the island to help any way they can. alex, live in our newsroom with this mission. allie garcia, a team of 11 people, nine san francisco firefighters, a retired firefighter and an emt from another bay area agency are all on their way to maui right now. they boarded a flight from oakland international airport this morning. we caught up with them as that as they were getting ready to depart. group members say the scenes of devastation and heartbreak in the hina moved them to take action and find a way they could help. one of the group members has extended family from lahaina. now, this is not an official trip organized by their respe

mayor bissen for the county. and myself, plus our teams, and what we saw was likely the largest natural disaster in hawaii state history. the images speak to how catastrophic the damage is. look at this. look at the before image and then the after image of a beach resort in lahaina. and this is the before and after of an outlet in maui. now it's nothing more than a heap of ash. i want to bring in cnn's bill weir on the line in maui. bill, i mean, i am seeing you in facetime. this is unbelievable to think about you just got there. we are looking at the images. you are on the ground. how bad is it? >> reporter: it's worse than i had anticipated, laura. i had anticipated it to be bad. i cover the paradise fire, the camp fire, which is the deadliest in u.s. history, and was hearing similar stories of what's happening here, and the harbor is everything i feared and worse. it's completely devastated. the front street buildings, all the iconic tour spots, so popular with people who come to this west side of miami, or of

our mayor richard bissen has had a site visit with our governor, our senior senator, and just to tour nation. as you know, president biden issued -- sent fema here to help us, which is going to be of great help. because this is going to be millions of dollars of repair that has to happen with this fire devastation. and we also have hawaii community foundation has set up an account called maui strong, and they're asking for financial donations for people who can. they are working with our county and government to basically find out where the needs are and where those dollars should be spent. so if anybody has any thoughts of helping us, that is a hawaii community foundation model strong is the name of the account that they're taking donations. people from -- we have aircrafts standing by from the big island to send over supplies to us. we also have the county of honolulu has sent firefighters. so we're getting support from really across the nation besides the president and our governor reaching out, we also have national association of counties who, as you know, the counties have exper

maui county mayor richard bissen says 850 names are now on the combined list of missing persons .y a few of the dead have been identified, died and relatives are being asked to submit dna samples to help identify those that are still missing. in maui. robert ray, ktvu fox two news. the team of firefighters from san francisco is heading to hawaii to help with wildfire recovery efforts there. we met the group this morning at oakland airport before members boarded a plane to maui. group is made of nine active firefighters. one retired firefighter and an emt. they plan to be in hawaii for a week to help out any way they can. we're going over to maui to lend him a hand. we've got rescue equipment. we've got obviously our able bodies to help. what ever they need over there. i know they've been working on this, this unfortunate fire for a while, and i'm sure they're exhausted. in berkeley, a group of children banded together to host a bake sale to raise money for fire survivors on maui. they sold treats including brownies, chocolate chip cookies and passion orange guava juice over the we

we walked from end to end today as a team mayor bissen for the county, senator schatz, the federal level and myself, plus all of our teams and what we saw was likely the largest natural disaster in hawai'i state history. during that news conference, emergency officials said recovery for the island would take years and cost billions of dollars. california is one of several states sending first responders to hawaii to help with the rescue, relief and recovery efforts. ktvu south bay reporter jesse gary is live at san jose mineta airport with that part of our coverage. jesse janet, good evening to you. and earlier today, the first of 13 red cross volunteers left from this airport. they are on the ground in hawaii now doing what they can. the next set slated to leave tomorrow morning with her dog, emmy by her side. red cross central coast ceo michelle avril is packed and ready to enter the breach. by midday friday. she'll be on the ground in maui working as a government liaison to get information and help to those who need it most. being able to provide that up to date information, our elect