Search for Maui fire victims drags on, toll at 99

The teams are proceeding as fast as possible, Maui County Police Chief John Pelletier said, but there was a "reverence" that encumbered the task.

"It's not just ash on your clothing when you take it off. It's our loved ones," Pelletier said at a Monday briefing.

Already at least 99 people have been confirmed killed - the most in any US wildfire in more than a century.

The search teams had covered only a quarter of the disaster area, he said, but he expressed hope that they could scan 85 to 90 per cent by the weekend. 

Officials have encouraged survivors to provide DNA samples to assist in identifying remains, a challenge made more difficult by the fire's intense heat.

The American Red Cross had received more than 2500 calls from people trying to find and reunite with relatives and friends missing from the fire, and about 800 of those have been resolved, said Chris Young, senior director for operations and readiness.

Even as donations have poured in and Hawaii and federal officials have promised vast resources to aid in the recovery, some of the displaced have grown frustrated with the pace of the governmental response.

Kanamu Balinbin, a local football coach, took matters into his own hands, setting up a relief camp where people who lost their homes and belongings could find water and food.

"I was devastated. I consider myself a strong leader, but it broke me," Balindin said about his emotions after witnessing the destruction. "This is what keeps me going, helping people. A lot of us are at that stage."

He said some of the local frustration stemmed from the longstanding perception that Maui does not receive enough attention from the state government despite its robust tourism revenues.

Nearly 2000 housing units, including 400 hotel rooms, 1400 Airbnb units and 160 private homes, were being made available for the displaced, Hawaii Governor Josh Green said.

More than 3200 Hawaii residents have registered to receive federal assistance, and that number is expected to rise, Jeremy Greenberg, the Federal Emergency Management Agency's director of response operations, told reporters.

Fuelled by winds gusting up to 128 km/h, the inferno reached temperatures of 538C last Tuesday when it raced from the dry grasslands outside town into Lahaina.

The deadly inferno destroyed or damaged more than 2200 buildings, 86 per cent of them residential, causing an estimated $US5.5 billion ($A8.5 billion) in damage, authorities said.

It remained unclear what ignited the fires, but utility Hawaiian Electric Industries has come under increasing scrutiny over whether its power equipment played any role in setting off the blazes.

On Monday, the utility defended its decision to keep power flowing, even though Maui was buffeted last week by powerful winds fanned by a distant hurricane, raising the risk of downed lines.

Proposed class action lawsuits have been filed against the company, whose stock was down more than 20 per cent on Tuesday after hitting a 13-year low on Monday. S&P downgraded the company's credit rating to junk status.