HONOLULU (AP) -- Wind-whipped wildfires raced through parts of Hawaii on Wednesday, burning structures in historic Lahaina Town on the island of Maui, forcing evacuations and leading some to flee to the relative safety of the ocean, where they were rescued by the Coast Guard.
"Do NOT go to Lahaina Town," the County of Maui tweeted, hours before all roads in and out of West Maui's biggest community were closed to everyone except emergency personnel.
Fire was widespread in Lahaina, including on Front Street, an area of the town of roughly 13,000 that is popular with tourists, county spokesperson Mahina Martin said by phone early Wednesday. Traffic has been very heavy as people try to evacuate, and officials asked people who weren't in an evacuation area to shelter in place to avoid adding to the traffic, she said.
Photos posted by the county overnight showed a line of flames blazing across an intersection in Lahaina and flames leaping above buildings in the town, whose historic district is on the National Register of Historic Places.
The National Weather Service said Hurricane Dora, which was passing to the south of the island chain at a safe distance of 500 miles, was partly to blame for gusts above 60 mph that knocked out power, rattled homes and grounded firefighting helicopters. Dangerous fire conditions created by strong winds and low humidity were expected to last through Wednesday afternoon, the weather service said.