Hawaii officials announced Friday that they have identified the last of 100 known victims of the wildfire that destroyed Lahaina in August.
According to Maui Police, the victim is Lydia Koroma, 70.
Identifying the people who died in the deadliest wildfire in the United States in more than 100 years has been a long and difficult process.
Forensic experts and cadaver dogs have to sift through the ashes to look for remains that may have been cremated, and authorities are collecting DNA samples from victims' families.
DNA tests allowed authorities to revise the death toll downward from 115 to at least 97 in September.
The death toll rose slightly over the next month as some victims succumbed to their injuries and police discovered additional bodies.
The number of missing people has also dropped from a record high of nearly 400 to just a few, Maui police said.
The Maui Police Department's list of known victims ranges in age from 7 to 97, but more than two-thirds were in their 60s or older. Some of them were residents of low-income senior housing complexes.
Authorities reopened incineration zones to displaced residents and property owners, while urging returning residents not to sift through the ashes for fear of raising toxic dust.
Authorities began removing debris from residential areas this month.
The waste will be wrapped in thick industrial plastic and transported by the Army Corps of Engineers to a temporary debris storage site south of Lahaina.
This disaster devastated much of Maui and Hawaii.
Caught in the hellish scene, some residents died in their cars, while others jumped into the sea or tried to flee for safety.
The cause of the fire is still under investigation. The fire may have been caused by a power line ignited by dead invasive grass.
The answer, according to an Associated Press investigation, lies in an overgrown ditch beneath Hawaiian Electric's power lines and a pool of embers from an earlier fire that burned in the morning and was reignited by strong winds that afternoon. It turns out it's possible.
The fire destroyed more than 2,000 buildings, including most homes, and caused an estimated $5.5 billion in damages.
Nearly six months after the fires, approximately 5,000 evacuees were still living in hotels and other short-term lodging facilities around Maui.
Economists warn that without zoning and other changes, housing costs in already expensive Lahaina could become prohibitive for many people after reconstruction.
