Maui wildfires: Mormon church confirms 5 Latter-day Saints among those dead

Maui: Search & Rescue operations underway

Veteran-led group Project DYNAMO is on the ground in Maui now rescuing people. Live NOW's Lexie Petrovic spoke with combat-veteran Bryan Stern who is in Maui helping with search operations. Death toll expected to rise as officials warn that efforts to find and identify are the early stages. More LiveNOW from FOX streaming video

LAHAINA, Hawaii - The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has confirmed that five of its members are included in the rising death toll as the result of the wildfires in Maui, Hawaii.

The Mormon church said four of the members were part of the same family, but it did not provide any further details about the victims or the circumstances of their deaths.

The church added that it has two meetinghouses in Kahului and Kahului West Stakes to serve as temporary shelters for those affected by the wildfires.

"Latter-day Saint families are opening their homes to people displaced by the wildfires," the church said in a news release.

As the death toll from a wildfire that razed a historic Maui town climbed to 93 on Sunday, authorities warned that the effort to find and identify the dead was still in its early stages. The blaze is already the deadliest U.S. wildfire in more than a century.

Watch: Aerial footage shows scope of devastating destruction after wildfire in Kula, Hawaii

The Hawaii Department of Land and Natural Resources released aerial footage above Kula, Hawaii, that shows the scope of devastation after wildfires raged across Maui.

Crews with cadaver dogs have covered just 3% of the search area, Maui Police Chief John Pelletier said Saturday.

As many as 4,500 people are in need of shelter, county officials said on Facebook, citing figures from the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Pacific Disaster Center.

The wildfires are Hawaii's deadliest natural disaster in decades, surpassing a 1960 tsunami that killed 61 people. An even deadlier tsunami in 1946, which killed more than 150 on the Big Island, prompted development of a territory-wide emergency alert system with sirens that are tested monthly.

Fueled by a dry summer and strong winds from a passing hurricane, the wildfires on Maui raced through parched brush covering the island.

The most serious blaze swept into Lahaina on Tuesday and destroyed nearly every building in the town of 13,000, leaving a grid of gray rubble wedged between the blue ocean and lush green slopes.

The Associated Press contributed to this report. This story was reported from Los Angeles.