SEATAC, Wash. — Members of Washington State Task Force-1 returned home Saturday after spending two weeks assisting with search and rescue missions in Maui.
The Urban Search & Rescue team was deployed Aug. 11 to support Hawaii after the deadly wildfires on Maui. The original team of 45 people expanded to 85 people on Aug. 13.
The team was made up of first responders from agencies throughout western Washington, with many from the Seattle Fire Department and Pierce County Sheriff's Office.
Additional members are expected to return Sunday, with a few staying in Hawaii to continue their work with FEMA.
Meanwhile, officials continue efforts to locate people following the Aug. 8 fires that killed at least 115 people and left an unknown number of others missing.
Earlier this week, a list of 388 names of unaccounted people was released. Within a day, more than 100 of those people or relatives called to say they were safe. However, those names represented a portion of the broader list of up to 1,100 people reported missing that the FBI is working to validate.
Officials asked anyone who knows someone on the list to contact authorities.
Maui County sued Hawaiian Electric Company on Thursday over the fires that devastated Lahaina.
Hawaii Electric said in a statement it is "very disappointed that Maui County chose this litigious path while the investigation is still unfolding.”
The lawsuit said the destruction could have been avoided and that the utility had a duty “to properly maintain and repair the electric transmission lines, and other equipment including utility poles associated with their transmission of electricity, and to keep vegetation properly trimmed and maintained so as to prevent contact with overhead power lines and other electric equipment.”