One of the forest fires on the island of Maui in the Hawaiian archipelago on August 8, 2022 (Zeke Kalua/County of Maui via AP, LaPresse)
In Maui, in the US archipelago of Hawaii, there are large forest fires that have caused the death of six people. Furthermore, all the roads in the west of the island were closed due to the fires and more than 15,000 homes and businesses were left without electricity. A dozen people who had jumped into the sea to escape the flames were rescued by the Coast Guard near the town of Lahaina, a small city in western Maui that was surrounded by fires. Lahaina, which was formerly the capital of Hawaii, has been badly damaged by fires.
Maui is the second largest island in Hawaii, after the one that gives the archipelago its name. The fires were favored by strong winds linked to hurricane Dora, which passed about 800 kilometers away from the island in the Pacific Ocean, and by the conditions of the vegetation, made very dry following a drought.