A retiree died protecting his friend's dog from a fire as the body search continues in Hawaii.

Franklin Trejos with Sam, his friend Jeff Bogar's dog, whom he was trying to save. Photo: Shannon Weber-Bogar

A retiree died trying to protect his friend's dog from wildfires in Hawaii. This has come to light as the death toll rises and the search for bodies continues.

At least 93 people have died in wildfires that have devastated the historic city of Lahaina on Maui, more than expected , will increase as the sniffer dogs expand their searches.

The fires, which have been the deadliest in the US for over a century, have destroyed more than 2,000 buildings, most of them residences and the city's heritage museum.

68-year-old Franklin Trejos first stayed to help others and save his friend's house Jeff Bogar, a retired fire captain.

As the blaze approached on Tuesday afternoon, the day the wildfires started, Trejos and Bogar decided they needed to run, each in their own car.

Mr. Bogar, a 35-year-old friend of Trejos, could not start. his car and was forced to break the window and get out. He then crawled on the ground until a police patrol found him and took him to the hospital.

When Mr. Bogard returned the next day, he found that his friend was not so lucky. There, in the back seat of the car, Mr. Trejos was lying on top of Mr. Bogar Sam's beloved three-year-old golden retriever, whom he was trying to protect.Lahaina is devastated by fires, many people are missing. Credit & Copyright: AP/Rick Bowmer Burnt houses and structures now dominate the scene in Lahaina after the deadliest fires in the US in over a century . Credit: AFP/Yuki Iwamura

Trejos, a native of Costa Rica, was close to Mr Bogar and his wife Shannon Weber-Bogar, helping her with seizures when her husband couldn't. He filled their lives with love and laughter.

«God has taken a really good man,» Weber-Bogar said.

Emergency response review pending

The fires intensified after midnight on Tuesday, triggered by Hurricane Dora, which passed south of the island chain, cutting off power and landing fire helicopters.

By late morning, the fires had spread to Lahaina, the centuries-old former royal capital of Maui, and destroyed the city by Wednesday.

Many residents say that the ferocity of the flames took them by surprise, and some are forced to flee to the sea to save themselves.

If they had been better warned in advance, many argue that they would have had time to save some of their property , help loved ones and escape with plenty of time.< /p> 1108 Hawaii Drought

According to the Hawaiian Emergency Management Agency, none of the state's 400 outdoor alarms used to warn people of natural disasters went off, and people are forced rely on telephones, the Internet, television and radio for warning messages.

Rep. Jill Tokuda, a Democrat, said the state «underestimated the lethality and rate of fire» and that at one point there was no phone service for people to receive mobile alerts.

Hawaiian Attorney General Ann Lopez will conduct a comprehensive emergency response review to «understand the decisions that were made before and during the wildfires,» her office said in a statement. in a statement.

Authorities warned on Saturday that efforts to find and identify the dead are still in their infancy, with husk dogs covering only three percent of the search area.

< p> there's at least five square miles of territory we have to maintain, and it's filled with our loved ones,» noting that the death toll is likely to rise, and «none of us really know the size yet,» said Maui Police Chief John Pelletier.