Residents of a Hawaiian town were reportedly forced to jump into the sea to escape flames as fierce wildfires sweep across parts of Maui.

Local media reported “apocalyptic scenes” in Lahaina, parts of which were destroyed or severely damaged by the blaze.

The fire prompted evacuations and caused power outages. Rescue efforts have been hampered by debris.

The Lahaina fire is one of at least seven ongoing in Hawaii.

A local affiliate of CBS News, the BBC’s US partner, reported that dozens of homes and businesses have been destroyed in the city of about 13,000 people on the western part of the island of Maui.

According to the US Coast Guard, 12 people were rescued after fleeing into the ocean to escape the fire.

While the extent of the damage is unclear, social media videos from the island show the town’s main street and several local businesses burning.

“Buildings on both sides were engulfed,” local business owner Alan Dickar told CBS. “There were no fire trucks at that point. I think the fire department was overwhelmed”.

Mr Dickar added that “a lot of people just lost their jobs because a lot of businesses burned. A lot of people lost their homes… this is going to be devastating for Maui”.

Another local resident, Dustin Kaleiopu, told Hawaii News Now that his house was among those destroyed in the fire.

“Everything that we’d ever known was gone. Our church, our schools, every single memory we had on this household,” he said. “Everything was gone in the blink of an eye”.

The fire in Lahaina is one of several in Hawaii fuelled by strong winds by Hurricane Dora hundreds of miles offshore, low humidity and cry air, according to the National Weather Service’s Honolulu office. Local officials have said that the winds have complicated efforts to use helicopters for firefighting operations.

The fires prompted evacuation orders and road and school closures across large swathes of Maui. Shelters have been set up for residents who have been forced to flee their homes.

About 15,000 people remain without power, as of 09:00 EST (14:00 BST), according to PowerOutage.us.

On Tuesday night, Hawaii’s acting governor, Sylvia Luke, issued an emergency declaration and activated the state’s National Guard. The state’s governor, Josh Green, is travelling.

“It’s definitely one of the more challenging days for our island given that it’s multiple fires, multiple evacuations in the different district areas,” County of Maui spokesperson Mahina Martin told CBS on Tuesday.

Fires in Hawaii are typically smaller than those which plague California and other parts of the western continental US.

Experts have warned, however, that they are often more damaging, as Hawaii’s ecosystem evolved without fires before the arrival of humans and can remove vegetation.