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The August fire, which began near downed utility poles amid drought conditions and gusting winds, blackened 6,721 acres in Lahaina and the up-country area near Kula.

Malama Kula operates in the up-country area.

“There were firefighters fighting the fires in Lahaina as they well knew their homes were burning down,” Fire Chief Brad Ventura said during a news conference in Kula on Tuesday.

At that point, fire crews were still trying to extinguish the flames that had destroyed much of Lahaina, as well as fighting three other fires in and around the towns of Kula and Kihei.

One person who called several times in the morning reported that lines were sparking and smoking at her home in the Kula area and she and her husband were unable to turn the power off.