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[00:00.41] Wildfires on Hawaii’s island of Maui have killed at least 55 people and destroyed a historic town, officials said.

[00:11.30] The number of deaths is expected to rise even higher.

[00:16.34] Officials said it will take years to rebuild Lahaina, the one-time capital of the former kingdom of Hawaii.

[00:25.64] Governor Josh Green said the fire was the worst natural disaster in the state's history, making thousands of people homeless and burning as many as 1,000 buildings.

[00:41.58] In 1960, a tsunami killed 61 people in the state.

[00:47.95] "It's going to take many years to rebuild Lahaina," Green said at a Thursday news conference.

[00:55.12] Lahaina was once the home of King Kamehameha, who united Hawaii under a single kingdom.

[01:04.15] Kings and queens are buried on the grounds of the 200-year-old stone Waiola Church, one of burned sites.

[01:13.45] Lahaina draws 2 million visitors each year, or about 80 percent of the island's visitors.

[01:21.95] Fueled by a dry summer and strong winds from a passing hurricane, at least three wildfires burned on Maui this week.

[01:33.64] Maui Fire Department Chief Brad Ventura said one fire moved so fast that it was impossible to warn people of the emergency.

[01:45.06] “What we experienced was such a fast-moving fire ... they were basically self-evacuating with fairly little notice,” Ventura told the Associated Press.

[01:57.01] Thousands of visitors and locals were evacuated from the western side of Maui, which has a year-round population of about 166,000. Locals sheltered on the island or the neighboring island of Oahu.

[02:15.07] And visitors gathered in Kahului Airport, waiting for flights back home.

[02:20.92] Some people fled the immediate danger by jumping into the Pacific Ocean.

[02:26.77] Among them was Vixay Phonxaylinkham, a visitor from Fresno, California.

[02:33.14] He said his family was trapped in a car as the fires neared, forcing the family to jump in the water.

[02:41.64] They held onto pieces of wood to stay above water.

[02:44.56] "We floated around for four hours," the man told Reuters from an emergency shelter. "

[02:52.26] It was a vacation that turned into a nightmare.

[02:56.25] I heard explosions everywhere, I heard screaming, and some people didn’t make it.

[03:01.56] I feel so sad," he said.

[03:04.48] Many survivors suffered burns and other injuries.

[03:08.73] "It was so hot all around me, I felt like my shirt was about to catch fire," said Nicoangelo Knickerbocker, a 21-year-old from Lahaina.

[03:20.69] Knickerbocker heard cars and a gas station explode.

[03:25.20] He fled from the town with his father and the family dog. "It sounded like a war was going on," he said.

[03:33.43] Officials said Thursday that they have contained about 80 percent of the Lahaina fire.

[03:40.61] There was no immediate estimate for others. However, experts say the fires are likely to change Hawaii in unwanted ways.

[03:51.23] They include a threat to coral reefs, drinking water, and its soil.

[03:56.28] Wildfires, often caused by record-setting heat, have become more common around the world this summer.

[04:04.24] They forced the evacuation of tens of thousands of people in Greece, Spain, Portugal and other parts of Europe.

[04:14.87] In western Canada, several unusually severe fires sent clouds of smoke over a large part of the United States, polluting the air.