Map: See Where the Hawaii Wildfires Spread in Maui

Wind-fueled wildfires that tore through the island of Maui in Hawaii on Tuesday and Wednesday have claimed at least 36 lives, forced the evacuation of thousands and decimated Lahaina, a historic tourist town.

While the fires were largely contained by Thursday morning, firefighters have continued to battle flare-ups, and emergency workers are still searching for survivors amid smoky and ashy conditions.

Satellite imagery of parts of Lahaina provided by Maxar Technologies showed that the fires destroyed streets and leveled hundreds of structures, a number of them heritage sites that housed treasured artifacts of the town’s legacy and history.

Tourists flock to Hawaii in large part for its tropical landscape and lush forests, but the state has also become increasingly vulnerable to wildfires. The area burned annually by wildfires in Hawaii has quadrupled in recent decades.

Invasive grasses that are highly flammable have taken over native vegetation in some areas, and climate change has exacerbated dry and hot conditions that have allowed many wildfires to spread more quickly.

Worsening drought conditions in recent weeks most likely contributed to the latest blaze. Nearly 16 percent of Maui County was in a severe drought on Tuesday, an uptick from about 5 percent the week before, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor. Lahaina, where the damage from fires was most concentrated, is on the drier, leeward side of the island that tends to receive less rain.