Maryland Task Force 1 Heads To Hawaii To Aid Wildfire Victims

MONTGOMERY COUNTY, MD — Members of Montgomery County's Urban Search and Rescue team headed to Hawaii on Wednesday to assist residents after wildfires tore through parts of Maui, killing more than 100 people, destroying a historic town and leaving thousands of others displaced.

Also known as Maryland Task Force 1, the federally-funded team is comprised of 80 members from Montgomery, Howard, and Prince George's County fire departments, as well as DC Fire and EMS, according to officials.

The team, one of 28 across the United States that respond to natural and manmade disasters as part of FEMA's Urban Search and Rescue Task Force, previously assisted with recovery efforts following Hurricane Floyd and the Oklahoma City bombing, according to county officials.

• RELATED: Maui Fires: Survivors Face Power Cuts, Poor Cell Service

More than 100 people were dead a week after wildfires all but incinerated the historic town of Lahaina. The blaze destroyed nearly every building in the town of 13,000, and was 85 percent contained by Tuesday evening, officials said. Another blaze known as the Upcountry Fire was 75 percent contained as of Tuesday evening.

The wildfires are the deadliest to sweep through the United States in more than a century.

Crews using cadaver dogs have scoured about 30 percent of the burn area, according to officials. Hawaii Gov. Josh Green said teams are rushing to secure remains ahead of possible storms forecast for the weekend.

"Many of the fatalities were on the road, down by the sea," Green told ABC's "Good Morning America" on Wednesday. "So the numbers will increase, but they will not increase — we hope — to ... catastrophic proportions. We just don't know yet."

After the blaze swept through Maui County, thousands of people were staying in shelters, in hotel rooms and Airbnb units, or with friends. Around 2,000 homes and businesses still don't have electricity, county officials wrote Tuesday night after the power company restored supply to over 10,000 customers. The fire also contaminated water supplies in many areas.

Maryland Task Force 1 was scheduled to depart Montgomery County by 5 p.m. Wednesday and planned to arrive by 8 a.m. Thursday local time, according to Pete Piringer, public information officer for Montgomery County Fire & Rescue Services.

In a statement released Wednesday, Montgomery County Executive Marc Elrich commended team members for their "unwavering commitment to assist others."

"This team is among the best in the country, so it has experience with situations like this," Elrich said. "It is my hope that its presence will help bring closure to the families impacted by this terrible tragedy."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.