Identifying Maui fire victims will be ‘very, very difficult mission,’ HHS says

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced Tuesday it will send mortuary response teams to Maui to help identify the victims of the wildfires as the death toll approaches 100.

Jonathan Greene, the deputy assistant secretary and director of the Office of Response within HHS’s Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response, told reporters during a Tuesday press call that the department deployed mortuary operational response and victim identification center teams from its National Disaster Medical System to Hawaii.

He said the experts will “augment state and local mortuary resources” as the island recoils from the devastating wildfires that swept Maui last week. He did not offer an estimate on how many victims those teams will expect in the coming days.

“In terms of the scope of the mission, it’s going to be a very, very difficult mission,” Greene said. “And patience will be incredibly important because of the number of victims. At this time, it’s premature to be able to say what the total number of victims will be.”

In total, Greene said HHS sent 75 emergency response experts to Hawaii. He said the mortuary response team —which includes coroners, pathologists and X-ray technicians — will assist local authorities with processing deceased remains.

The teams just landed in Hawaii with about 22 1/2 tons of supplies and equipment needed for victim identification and processing remains, he added.

The wildfires last week left at least 99 people dead, with Gov. Josh Green (D) saying Tuesday the total includes children. The Hawaii governor said Monday that crews could find “10 to 20 people a day” until the searches end.

In an update posted Tuesday afternoon, Maui County officials said only four victims have been identified so far. Thirteen DNA profiles have been collected from fatalities and 41 DNA samples have been obtained from family members of those who are unaccounted for. About 32 percent of the area had been searched as of Tuesday afternoon, county officials said.

Green said on Tuesday he hopes about 85 percent of the search can be complete by this weekend.

Keith Turi, the deputy associate administrator for FEMA’s Office of Response and Recovery, told reporters Tuesday that 3,400 survivors of the Maui wildfires have registered for assistance with FEMA. He said 1,200 have been provided with financial assistance so far, totaling nearly $2 million. This number includes about $630,000 in $700 critical needs assistance payments, he said.

President Biden signed a major disaster declaration for Hawaii last week over the wildfires, opening up additional federal aid to assist with the response. Turi urged Maui residents to register with FEMA and reassured residents that there is no risk to their property ownership by registering.

“While we are encouraging survivors to take those first important steps towards their personal recovery and register with FEMA, it’s important to highlight and the active response in Maui still continues,” Turi said. “And we recognize at FEMA that families and survivors are grieving.”