Adding to the local frustration, few residents have been permitted back into Lahaina to visit their properties. Maui County had briefly relaxed restrictions but quickly suspended the visits on Monday after curiosity seekers clogged streets being used by rescue workers, officials said. One person was arrested for trespassing.

Meanwhile, up to 20 cadaver dogs have led search teams on a block-by-block search of the ashes, covering about quarter of the disaster area as of Monday night, Maui County Police Chief John Pelletier said.

Only three of the deceased had been officially identified as of Monday, Pelletier said, but stories about those who perished have begun to emerge from friends and relatives.

On the fundraising website GoFundMe, relatives of Kevin and Saane Tanaka said Saane's sister, 7-year-old nephew and parents were found in a burned-out car near their home on Thursday morning.

"Words cannot express how devastating this is for the family," the post said, noting that the Tanakas have had no time to grieve after taking in more than a dozen other displaced relatives.

Another post described how Joe Schilling - "Uncle Joe" to his adopted family, the Bluhs - died while helping five elderly people escape from his housing complex.

"He was known as 'Funcle Joe' for a reason," Akiva Bluh wrote. "Whether it be the trips to go bullet-shell hunting or staying up late while my parents were gone so he could sneak us his famous sugar toast, he was always willing to act out of love and kindness towards myself and my brothers."

Officially, the cause of the fire remained under investigation, but the New York Times, citing interviews and video evidence, reported the brush fire that spread into Lahaina started from a broken power line.

Hawaiian Electric CEO Shelee Kimura did not address the cause of fire in a press conference on Monday night. The utility's stock price has plunged as it has come under increasing scrutiny over whether its power equipment played any role in setting off the fire.

Kimura defended the company's decision not to shut off power despite powerful winds that raised the risk of downed lines, saying that a shutdown could have cut off the water supply for firefighters and harmed people who rely on powered medical equipment.

Reuters