Over 2,200 structures were damaged or destroyed as the fire tore through Lahaina, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) said, wreaking $5.5 billion in damage and leaving thousands homeless.
Hawaiian authorities said they were opening a probe into the handling of the inferno as a congresswoman from the state acknowledged that officials had underestimated the danger, and as residents said there had been no warnings.
"The mountain behind us caught on fire and nobody told us jack," Vilma Reed told AFP.
"You know when we found that there was a fire? When it was across the street from us."
Reed, whose house was destroyed by the blaze, said they had fled the flames with what they had in their car, and were now dependent on handouts and the kindness of strangers.
