Maui authorities defend not using sirens as wildfire death toll rises

Authorities in Maui defended not using sirens to warn residents of deadly wildfires, saying they would have caused residents to 'go into the fire.In one heartbreaking announcement after another, the loss of human life continues to climb in the wake of the devastating inferno that swept through Maui on August 8.

The fire claimed at least 111 lives as it raged burned though the historic town of Lahaina, once the capital of the Hawaiian Kingdom, Maui officials said Tuesday. That makes it one of the deadliest wildfires in history.

It is second only to a 1918 fire in Minnesota as the deadliest wildfire in the United States since 1900. Even among the deadliest wildfires in world history since 1900, on a list published by Statista, the Lahaina fire stands fifth.