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The death toll from a deadly wildfire on Maui could rise beyond 36 people once rescuers can penetrate remote parts of the Hawaiian island that were cut off by fire.

Firefighters continue to fight on Thursday the fire that has been fuelled by a dry summer and strong winds from a passing hurricane.

The blaze started on Tuesday and took the island by surprise, racing through parched growth and neighbourhoods in the historic town of Lahaina, a tourist destination that dates to the 1700s and is the biggest community on the island's west side.

Maui County said late on Wednesday that at least 36 people had died, making it the deadliest US wildfire since the 2018 Camp Fire in California, which killed at least 85 people and laid waste to the town of Paradise.

The Hawaii toll could rise, though, as rescuers reach parts of the island that had been unreachable due to ongoing fires or obstructions.

Officials said earlier Wednesday that 271 structures had been damaged or destroyed and that dozens of people had been injured.

"We are still in life preservation mode. Search and rescue is still a primary concern," Adam Weintraub, a spokesperson for Hawaii Emergency Management Agency, said on Thursday.

He said search and rescue teams still won't be able to access certain areas until the fire lines are secure and they're sure that they're going to be able to get to those areas safely.

"What we have here is a natural disaster," Weintraub said. "But we still got people in danger. We still have people who don't have homes. We still have people who can't find their loved ones."

The flames left some people with mere minutes to act and led some to flee into the ocean.

As the fires raged, tourists were advised to stay away, and about 11,000 flew out of Maui on Wednesday, with at least another 1,500 people expected to leave via the airport on Thursday.

The fires were fanned by strong winds from Hurricane Dora passing far to the south.

It's the latest in a series of disasters caused by extreme weather around the globe this summer. Experts say climate change is increasing the likelihood of such events.

The Big Island is also currently seeing blazes, Mayor Mitch Roth said, although there had been no reports of injuries or destroyed homes there.

As winds eased somewhat on Maui on Wednesday, pilots were able to view the full scope of the devastation.

Aerial video from Lahaina showed dozens of homes and businesses razed.

Smoking heaps of rubble lay piled high next to the waterfront, boats in the harbor were scorched, and gray smoke hovered over the leafless skeletons of charred trees.

Bissen, the Maui County mayor, said Wednesday that officials hadn't yet begun investigating the immediate cause of the fires.

© AP 2023

The death toll from a wildfire that has turned the resort town of Lahaina on Hawaii's Maui island into smouldering ruins has risen to 53.

At least three major fires broke out on Maui on Tuesday night, cutting off the western side of the island and the historic city of Lahaina, where at least 271 structures were destroyed or damaged.

Many more people suffered burns, smoke inhalation and other injuries. Search and rescue efforts continue, and thousands of people have fled the area, into emergency shelters and off the island.

"As firefighting efforts continue, 17 additional fatalities have been confirmed today amid the active Lahaina fire. This brings the death toll to 53 people," Maui County said in a statement on Thursday.

The fires reduced entire neighbourhoods to ashes on the western side of the US island.

Lahaina is one of Maui's prime attractions, drawing two million tourists to the island each year, or about 80 per cent of the island's visitors.

The wildfires took most of Lahaina's residents and visitors by surprise when they broke out, forcing some to jump into the ocean to escape the fast-moving inferno.

Nicoangelo Knickerbocker, a 21-year-old resident of Lahaina, had just awoken from a nap on Tuesday evening when he saw the fires burning through his hometown.

His mother and sister fled, while he and some and friends went to neighbours' houses, helping people pack belongings and fruitlessly trying to stem the flames with garden hoses.

"It was so hot all around me, I felt like my shirt was about to catch on fire," he said from one of the four emergency shelters opened on the island. The shelters are housing more than 2100 people.

Knickerbocker heard cars and a petrol station explode, and soon after fled the town with his father, bringing with them only the clothes they were wearing and the family dog.

"It sounded like a war was going on," he said.

At least 20 people suffered serious burns, and several were airlifted to Oahu for medical treatment, while more than 11,000 visitors were evacuated from Maui, Ed Sniffen of the Hawaii Department of Transportation said late on Wednesday.

Though at least 16 roads were closed, the airport was operating fully, he said.

The fires were the worst disaster to befall Hawaii since 1960, one year after it became a US state, when a tsunami killed 61 people.

The fate of some of Lahaina's cultural treasures remains unclear.

The historic 18-metre-tall banyan tree marking the spot where Hawaiian King Kamehameha III's 19th-century palace stood was still standing, though some of its boughs appeared charred.

US President Joe Biden has approved a disaster declaration for Hawaii, allowing affected individuals and business owners to apply for federal housing and economic recovery grants.

The cause of the Maui wildfires has yet to be determined, officials said, but the National Weather Service said dry vegetation, strong winds, and low humidity fuelled them.

Elsewhere on the island, fires also destroyed parts of Kula, a residential area in the inland Upcountry region, and Kihei in South Maui.

Scenes of fiery devastation have become all too familiar elsewhere in the world this summer.

Wildfires, often caused by record-setting heat, forced the evacuation of tens of thousands of people in Greece, Spain, Portugal and other parts of Europe.

In western Canada, a series of unusually severe fires sent clouds of smoke over vast swaths of the US, polluting the air.

Human-caused climate change, driven by fossil fuel use, is increasing the frequency and intensity of such extreme weather events, scientists say.

© AP 2023

Police are preparing to update the investigation into a horrific house fire that killed a father and five boys.

Wayne Godinet, 34, and his young boys perished when the blaze tore through the property on Russell Island near Brisbane about 6am on Sunday.

The children's mother, Samantha Stephenson, 28, and another woman survived the inferno, fleeing as the two-storey home was engulfed in flames.

The blaze damaged two neighbouring homes and left several people needing treatment for minor burns and smoke inhalation.

Police continue to probe the source of the fire, saying although they have not determined the fire was suspicious, some elements of the tragedy required closer scrutiny

The deadly blaze has left the small Moreton Bay community in shock.

Detective Superintendent Andrew Massingham said on Thursday the autopsies had been completed and the results were being sent to investigators.

"And at this stage it's looking like I'll be able to provide some sort of an update on that investigation tomorrow (Friday)," he said.

© AAP 2023