Wildfires partially driven by hurricane winds have torn through parts of Hawaii, leaving residents to seek shelter from the flames by swimming into the sea.
The fires burnt an unknown number of buildings, left thousands of homes without power and forced evacuations on the island of Maui on Tuesday night.
About 2,000 visitors were trapped at the airport, unable to fly out.
Sylvia Luke, the acting governor of Hawaii, said the flames were “unprecedented” and that hospitals were overwhelmed with burns and smoke inhalation patients.
“We are already in communication with other hospital systems about relieving the burden. The reality is that we need to fly people out of Maui to give them burn support because Maui hospital cannot do extensive treatment,” Luke told CNN.