An Irishman on Maui has described a "white-knuckle drive" to the airport with his family as devastating wildfires engulf parts of the Hawaiian island.
At least 55 people have died following devastating blazes, with the state's Governor Josh Green describing it as a "heartbreaking day".
Fuelled by a dry summer and strong winds from a passing hurricane, the fire started on Tuesday and took Maui by surprise.
It moved quickly through parched growth covering the island and then on to people's homes.
Declan Kelly told Newstalk Breakfast he and his family arrived last Saturday.
"We arrived on Maui on Saturday last - [it's] absolutely like a paradise, [it's a] beautiful place," he said.
"We're staying in a place called Kihei - we had looked at Lahaina, which is in the news for all the wrong reasons at the moment," he said.
"Kihei is in the south shore of the island and Lahaina's in the west.
"We actually went to Lahaina on Monday, not realising it would be raised to the ground less than 24 hours later.
"It was absolutely full of craft shops, galleries - Mick Fleetwood from Fleetwood Mac had a nice bar/restaurant.
"There was an old courthouse - we went into that - on the waterfront, and it's all been raised to the ground at this stage".
Wildfire wreckage is seen in Lahaina, Hawaii. Picture by: Associated Press / Alamy Stock PhotoMr Kelly said there was no real talk of the fires when they broke out on Tuesday.
"We were only 20 miles away from Lahaina, where the first fire really seemed to kick in," he said.
"We went out for a meal on Tuesday night, got back and there was a smell of smoke.
"We turned on the news, we started looking at social media and realised there was a fire.
"We didn't know anything about the extent of it - you could see a red glow in the distance".
New satellite imagery from today of the fires on the Hawaiian island of #Maui. Seen here is the #Lahaina Banyan Court area. The before image is from June 25, 2023 and the after is from August 9, 2023. pic.twitter.com/P28Ue2jxXi
— Maxar Technologies (@Maxar) August 10, 2023
Mr Kelly said a US government alert message came in on just one of their phones.
"We realised there were three fires, and one of them was south of us... it's about two and a half miles from where we were.
"It isn't that far away... so we made a decision.
"Our best bet is to try and go north and get closer to the airport.
"The fire was south-east and north-west of us, so where the airport was was not affected.
"The scariest thing was that most of the roads here are two lanes... if that clogs up with cars you've nowhere to go.
"Lahaina, there was only one road in and out - and people were trying to get out but couldn't - and ended up fleeing their cars and jumping into the water".
'I needed to keep going'
Mr Kelly said they headed for the airport in a "white knuckle drive, holding on to the steering wheel of the rental car."
"I was unnaturally calm... I just knew I had a job to do and I needed to keep going".
Mr Kelly said they have since received the all-clear to return to their accommodation.
"The fire is not totally put out, but it was under control to a large extent," he said.
"We waited a while and we made a decision to go back, we'd left stuff behind us as well.
"We went back down the road and it was clear, and our area seems to be stable.
"Just thoughts and prayers with all the people affected here on the island," he added.
Mr Kelly said they are continuing with their holiday plans to visit other islands.
Listen back here:
