Maui fires live updates: Officials to ID victims as residents warned not to return home

Authorities on Tuesday will start releasing names of people who lost their lives in the devastating fires that leveled parts of west Maui this month, officials said.

As of Monday, officials said at least 99 people were killed in Maui, and the death toll will increase significantly, according to Hawaii Gov. Josh Green. Crews continue to work their way through the ruins, accompanied by cadaver dogs to search for human remains.

Government officials have named multiple possible causes of the fire, including global warming. Green also told CNN he believes warning sirens may have failed because they could have been "immobilized" by high temperatures from the fires.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency said Monday it is dedicated to helping the west Maui community rebuild, even as private developers have started approaching residents with offers to buy the land where homes once stood.

Roadblocks are preventing some people from returning to the areas where their homes were, as they try to assess the damage. Green said he does not want Maui residents to rush to return to damaged areas, citing safety concerns. Government officials said this week they are working to secure temporary housing for displaced people, as well as for emergency responders working in Maui.

As frustration mounts among longtime residents, Green said he wants "a lot of understanding about traveling into the zone where the fire occurred," due to safety risks from partially collapsed buildings that could fall on people and "heavy metals."

Latest developments:

◾ As of late Monday, the Lahaina fire was 85% contained, the Upcountry Maui fire was 65% contained, and the Pulehu/Kihei fire was 100% contained but not yet extinguished.

◾ The County of Maui said about 25% of the burn area had been searched, and officials expect the death toll to climb as crews clear more of the area.

◾ The South Korean government has pledged to send $2 million in humanitarian aid to Hawaii, the country's Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced in a press release Tuesday. The aid will include supplies like water and food purchased through the Korean market and sent to Hawaii, and cash donated to local relief groups, the ministry said.

Officials say they will release victim names starting Tuesday

The names of some people who died in the fires will be released after their families are notified, Maui Police Department Chief John Pelletier said Monday during a news conference.

Among those assisting in finding and identifying the dead are members of a special federal Disaster Mortuary Operational Response Team, deployed by the Department of Health and Human Services. Other search-and-rescue teams from the mainland United States, including Colorado, Los Angeles and Indianapolis, have been sent and are picking their way through downed power lines, melted cars and collapsed buildings.

Fire deadliest in US in more than 100 years

Green said 99 people were killed in the Maui fires. Along Lahaina Town's popular Front Street, "the first 80 individuals or so" were found dead, because that's were many people initially fled to, Green said.

"The numbers will go up significantly in the coming days," he said.

"It's a tragedy beyond tragedies," Green told CNN.

Warning sirens believed to be 'immobilized' by heat, governor says

In the days after the massive fires swept across large swaths of west Maui, residents have demanded to know why Hawaii's longtime tsunami emergency warning system did not alert people to the fire.

"The sirens were essentially immobilized we believe, we believe by the extreme heat that came through," Green said Monday.

As part of the review of the how the emergency alert system responded to the fire, officials will take a look at testing that was done on the sirens in early August, Green said.

Contributing: Trevor Hughes, N'dea Yancey-Bragg and Elizabeth Weise, USA TODAY