four and the disaster proving to be the deadliest wildfire here in the us in years. Welcome everyone to the four. This afternoon i'm Heather Holmes. And i'm Alex savage. Here is the latest information we have. The death toll from the fires has reached at least 36, but it could rise as rescuers reach parts of the island that were inaccessible. Dozens of people have been hurt, some of them in critical condition. More than 270 buildings have been either damaged or destroyed, including most of the historic town of Lahaina. President Biden has declared a major disaster on the island of Maui and ordered federal aid to help support the recovery efforts there. KTVU is Tom Vacar has been monitoring those recovery efforts and joins us now with the latest. Tom well , there's no other way to say it in Hawaii. It has been a sober, somber and very sad day. The day after the worst destruction is over is often the worst day for survivors. It's when officials conduct the body count of people and pets lost homes, businesses and the certainty that things everything will never be the same again. It's the time of disbelief and deep soul sadness. Nikki White is desperately trying to find her dad, Tim, a 65 year old Air Force military police veteran living in Lahaina . Her father told her by phone that he was in his car seeking shelter. He was saying that he couldn't get through to the places we were telling him to go because of the fire and structures were down. And then just communication stopped. So we're almost at 24 hours of No. One hearing from him. This is far more than the historical loss of the once Hawaiian capital and royal residence of King Kamehameha, the third who unified the islands. It is a direct hit to the soul of the people of Maui and Hawaii with lives lost and properties decimated. We are grieving with each other during this increased global time. It's also a deep loss to the Ina Californians of Hawaiian ancestry. When you say home, it still means Hawaii. Eric Tao is president of the Hawaii Chamber of Commerce of Northern California. It supports Hawaiian ancestry owned businesses as well as the Hawaiian Community, as well as education for thousands of Bay Area Hawaiians. Now Hawaiian Relief. That's the next thing we're going to do is try to help get the word out on the best way to help people back in Hawaii. It's such a shock. One of Tao's friends told him this. He said, this is kind of like our 911. Their story of people barely escaping, you know, just getting out in the nick of time, not being able to walk, not being able to drive, just being rescued at the last minute and the days ahead, we will be stronger as a kulu or community as we rebuild with resilience and aloha make no mistake, Lahaina is a complete and total loss to the tourist who loved it as well. Tom Vacar ktvu fox two ne
