People in Hawaii flee into ocean as wildfires burn in popular tourist town

Dangerous fire conditions created by strong winds and low humidity were expected to last throughout Wednesday afternoon, the Naional Weather Service said.

Smoke blows across the slope of Haleakala volcano on Maui, Hawaii (Matthew Thayer/The Maui News via AP)

Wildfires in Hawaii have forced evacuations and closed schools as rescuers pulled a dozen people escaping smoke and flames from the ocean.

The US Coast Guard responded to areas where people went into the ocean to escape the fire and smoky conditions, the County of Maui said in a statement. The Coast Guard tweeted that a crew rescued 12 people from the water off the historic town of Lahaina.