We begin tonight on Maui with new questions and growing anger on what could have been done to prevent the deadliest wildfire in the US in more than a century. The death toll is rising, and it’s possible. But more than a thousand people are still unaccounted for. Tonight, FEMA is telling CBSN that many people died in their homes and it may take years to identified all the remains. Officials say just forty percent of the impacted area has been searched. The state’s emergency management director remains defiant in face of questions including CBSN about why he didn’t use warning sirens to alert residents as the flames approached. Late this afternoon, Hawaii’s attorney general announced plans for a third-party private organization to review the performance of state and county agencies in preparation and response to the fires.

Tonight, as the death toll climbs to a hundred and eleven. FEMA officials tell me many of the victims have been found in their homes and in their beds. Many are likely children and had no idea the flames were approaching. And we now know that the sirens did work but in those critical hours were intentionally not used. This harrowing video shows people on Maui desperately seeking refuge in a pool as the inferno burned all around them during last week’s wildfires. And now, as FEMA crews continue the grueling search for victims, it’s becoming clear many were either unaware or had little chance to escape the fast-approaching flames. The fire that had been declared one hundred percent contained flared up again around 3:30 PM roadways into Lahaina were closed by then hurricane-force winds had knocked out power to much of the town. It was 5:15 PM nearly two hours after the flare up that the flames reached Front Street, according to witnesses who spoke with the New York Times. The whole time, the sirens were silent.