Maui fire: Lahaina looks like 'bomb' went off, returning travelers from Illinois say

CHICAGO (WLS) -- Travelers returning to Chicago from Maui described the devastation from the wildfires on the island.

The state is discouraging all non-essential travel to Maui, and chaotic images have come back from the airport there showing hundreds of passengers sleeping on any available surface overnight as they wait to return to the mainland.

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Suzie Burgin and her 80-year-old mother Susan returned to Chicago Thursday after a harrowing ride home.

"As we had to drive, we had a police escort that took all of the charter buses from the resort and just, mass devastation. All of Front Street is gone. Totally burned down. We ate at a restaurant on Sunday and now it's completely gone," she said. "Locals lost homes, lives. It was devastating to see what we were driving through to get to the airport.

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Susan McGilvrey said the homes and businesses on the island were engulfed in the inferno, while things away from the flames were so dire, her resort started rationing food.

"I feel so sorry for all those people who've lost their house," she said. "I mean, it's just nothing there. And their cars are just burned out and it's sad. It's very sad."

Mark Mautino from Spring Valley, Ill., said he and his wife travel to Hawaii all the time for vacation.

"We went for a walk, turned the corner and Lahaina was just on fire," Mautino said. "I remember getting back to our place. We thought a storm was rolling in and it was all the smoke from Lahaina."

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Mautino and his wife arrived at O'Hare Airport early Thursday morning from Maui, some of the only passengers from the scorched island on a connecting flight from Honolulu.

He said his hotel was without power for at least 36 hours with power lines down and roads blocked, making it nearly impossible to make it back to the airport.

At one point on their trip, Marks says he didn't think they'd make it off.

"If you've ever been to Lahaina, it looks like a bomb went off," Mautino said. "I feel sorry for the people. I mean I'm going to guess for probably two square miles, there's nothing left."

Officials said that at least 36 people have died in the horrific fires, whipped up by very dry conditions and intense winds.

The fire leveled historic communities.

"A lot more damage than I was aware of - very devastating losses to our community," Maui County Mayor Richard Bissen Jr. "Upwards of hundreds of homes, businesses, and dwellings burned to the ground."

Right now, Hawaiian officials are discouraging non-essential travel to the island, while emergency crews work around-the-clock to douse the flames.

United Airlines said they've canceled Thursday's inbound flights to Maui so more empty planes can be used to help get travelers off the island.