Maui
Inside a temporary morgue near the Maui County coroner’s office, a team of specialists including forensic pathologists, X-ray technicians, fingerprint experts and forensic dentists labor 12 hours a day to identify the charred remains of the victims of this month’s cataclysmic wildfire.
They are members of the federal Disaster Mortuary Operational Response Team program, or DMORT, deployed when a mass fatality incident overwhelms local authorities.
The team’s breadth of experience underscores the difficulty of the task it faces. The number of victims is unknown, hundreds remain on lists of those missing, and in some cases the inferno has consumed all but the barest remnants of the bodies.
The work is vitally important, with families desperate to know the fate of their relatives and to have a chance to say goodbye. The death toll in the devastated town of Lahaina has surpassed 100, but only handfuls have been officially identified, emphasizing the long road ahead.
There are 10 regional DMORTs around the United States, comprised of more than 600 civilian members, that spring into action for disasters as varied as airplane crashes, hurricanes and mass attacks such as the Sept. 11, 2001, hijackings.
While the work can be emotionally taxing, DMORT members already confront death in their day jobs as funeral directors, medical examiners and coroners. They are better equipped than most to compartmentalize their feelings and concentrate on the mission at hand.
