Six people are confirmed dead and at least two dozen are injured as wildfires rage in Hawaii, fuelled by “hurricane-force” winds and baking drought.

People have been forced to jump into the ocean to escape the fires and  evacuations are in place on the second-largest island of Maui as fast-moving wildfires took residents by surprise. Fires have also broken out on Hawaii’s Big Island.

Hawaii Governor Josh Green described a “terrible disaster” as flames consumed everything their path — including the historic tourist town of Lāhainā, Maui, where hundreds of families have been displaced.

In one report, a Lahaina resident said “every boat was burning” in the harbour and that “the harbour is gone”.

Some Maui residents fled into the ocean, prompting the US Coast Guard to rescue them, according to a Maui County press release.

There are also fears for Australian tourists as towering flames turned popular holiday spots into flaming conflagrations.

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“We have suffered a terrible disaster in the form of a wildfire that has spread widely as a result of hurricane-force winds in the region and underlying drought conditions,” said Governor Green, who cut his holiday short.

“Maui and the Big Island both experienced significant fires. Much of Lāhainā on Maui has been destroyed and hundreds of local families have been displaced.”

Hurricane Dora, which was passing to the south at a safe distance of 805 kilometres, was partly to blame for winds above 97 kph that knocked out power, rattled homes and grounded firefighting helicopters, said the National Weather Service.

Aerial video from after sunrise revealed entire blocks of buildings reduced to ash and thick smoke in the air.

Crews on Maui were battling multiple blazes concentrated in two areas: the tourist destination of West Maui and an inland, mountainous region.

Panicked residents fleeing the flames posted videos and photos on social media showing apocalyptic clouds of smoke billowing up over formerly paradisiacal beaches and palm trees.

The situation in Hawaii mirrored scenes of devastation elsewhere in the world this summer, as wildfires caused by record-setting heat forced the evacuation of tens of thousands of people in Greece, Spain, Portugal, and other parts of Europe.

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Scientists say that human-caused climate change — driven by fossil fuel use — is increasing the frequency and intensity of such extreme weather events. They have long warned government officials to drastically reduce emissions to prevent climate catastrophe.

A higher risk of fire was forecast for Hawaii in August and that risk would remain over the next three months until November, according to The National Interagency Fire Centre.

Dustin Johnson, from San Diego, was in Lahaina, a residential and tourist area with a commercial district in West Maui, working for a charter boat company that takes tourists on two-hour tours from the Lahaina harbor.

“I was the last one off the dock when the firestorm came through the banyan trees and took everything with it,” he told Reuters in an interview at the airport in Maui.

“And I just ran out and helped everyone I could along the way.”

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According to the University of Hawaii, large fires are an almost annual occurrence in some parts of the archipelago, though the scope of these fires is unusual.

By Tuesday night (local time), hundreds of acres had already burned and roads and schools had closed in parts of Hawaii and Maui Counties, according to an emergency proclamation issued by acting Hawaii Governor Sylvia Luke.

Hawaii County encompasses the Big Island, which lies south of Maui.

In Maui, the fires also destroyed parts of Kula, a residential area in the inland, mountainous Upcountry region, the proclamation said.

Maui County spokesperson Mahina Martin told USA TODAY that fires were also affecting Kihei, home to a mix of residential homes, condominiums, short-term vacation rentals and visitor facilities in South Maui.