The reopening of the road to Lahaina for West Maui residents to gather supplies such as medicine and food was short lived Friday after a brief opening was stalled by a car accident and people entering active police scenes, according to authorities.

Residents have been clamoring for access to return to their homes, survey the damage and collect needed items. Some have been able to get in via boat or while bringing supplies. Officials on Thursday asked for patience as they work to search for the missing and recover people who died in the fires, but decided Friday to reopen Honoapiilani Highway for West Maui residents and visitors with reservations so they could gather their things.

“We came from Kahana this morning for gas and supplies and are trying to get home with them,” said Evelyn Mitchell as she was stuck in traffic near the Maui Ocean Center around 4 p.m.

“They finally let us out to get supplies and now we aren’t sure we can get back to our pets,” Mitchell said.

The road reopened at noon before a car accident on Kuihelani Highway shortly before 1 p.m. prompted county officials to tell the public not to go to Lahaina. The county said just before 4 p.m. that Kuiheilani had reopened, but not long after, police shut down the road again.

The Maui Police Department said on its Facebook page that many people were parking on the Lahaina Bypass and walking into areas makai of the bypass, which is locked down due to dangerous conditions and biohazards. Police said people were going over barricades and closed-off areas and entered restricted, dangerous, active investigation scenes.

Police said people who enter unauthorized areas endanger themselves and operations as MPD and National Guard must stop their searching efforts and escort individuals out.

Maui County Mayor Richard Bissen declared the area only accessible to authorized personnel and police said those caught in the zone will be escorted out and may be arrested.

“This area is an active police scene, and we need to preserve the dignity of lives lost and respect their surviving family. … If people continue to disobey the orders, entry to Lahaina will be closed again and open to emergency personnel only,” MPD said shortly before shutting down the road.

A spokesperson for MPD could not be reached for comment on Friday on the closure decision.

Kehau Cerizo, a spokesperson for Maui County, said, “People were just going into areas that were unsafe and still could’ve had human remains.”

Cerizo said physical barricades had been set up and National Guard was on-site, and about 100 to 200 people came down hoping to get into Lahaina.

People were still allowed to drive out of Lahaina.

Some have reported that there has been looting in the burned-down town as well.

Eddy Garcia, a born-and-raised Lahaina resident, said he went to Lahaina town to survey the damage Wednesday when he saw people looting. He said he chased away someone apparently trying to rob the Maui Medical Center and saw another person who appeared to be stealing something out of a house or foundation.

Jeff Hickman, director of public affairs for the state Department of Defense, said the National Guard is “plussing up a large amount of Guardsmen and by early next week, there will probably be over 100 on Maui, a lot of them doing the staff support,” which includes operations and logistics.

Maui County would have to request the National Guard if it needs traffic and security control assistance. The National Guard said on Friday that there was no current request from the county for this type of assistance.

Federal, state and county crews are continuing to extinguish flare-ups and contain multiple active fires across the island. The Lahaina fire was 85 percent contained as of Friday afternoon, while the Pulehu/Kihei fire was 80 percent contained and the Upcountry fire was 50 percent contained.

Another fire was reported above Puukolii at 6:10 p.m. Friday but was reported to be 100 percent contained before 8:30 p.m. The fire was in an area where a county fueling station was positioned Friday to distribute an estimated 3,000 gallons of gas and 500 gallons of diesel for an estimated 400 vehicles that were lined up before the operation begin, according to the county. No fuel will be distributed Saturday.

Fatalities due to the fire had grown to 80 as of 9 p.m. Friday. A Federal Emergency Management Agency Search and Rescue Team, with expertise in human remains, is being deployed to Maui from Arizona and Nevada, the county said Friday afternoon. Five dogs are being utilized.

The Family Assistance Center that was set up for family members searching for information on their loved ones will be open from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday and Sunday at the Kahului Community Center.

While many Lahaina-bound residents got stuck in Central Maui traffic or turned away, others successfully made it to Lahaina and back on Friday.

Patrick Whalen and Wesley Osborne took things to their friend Evan Pascual, who lives in Honokowai, and also went to check on Osborne’s parents.

“We took food, water, flashlights, batteries, ice, just anything that we could that he needed,” Whalen said.

Whalen set out from Kihei at 11 a.m., but because of traffic he did not reach Maalaea to pick up Osborne until 11:45.

“I was just kind of inching along, people were coming along on the median and the dirt, just kind taking their trucks and driving all the way up and whatnot,” said Whalen, who lives in Kihei and teaches at Lahaina Intermediate School. “So, I finally got to Maalaea and picked up Wes and we eventually got back onto the road and then as soon as we reached the checkpoint where the officer asked to see our ID, we gave them Wes’ ID to prove that he is a Lahaina resident. It was smooth sailing from there. I think it was about noon when we got through.”

Whalen said they arrived in West Maui “around 12:45-ish and we stayed until about 2:55. … We took the stuff to Evan and checked on Wes’ parents, who are doing fine.”

Whalen said on the way back they were passed by “a few ambulances that went by, so you had to be aware of that. We got over a few times. All the road lights were still out, so it was kind of four-way stop at intersections. … Once we got on the (Lahaina) Bypass it was pretty smooth.”

He said the road was blocked going into Lahaina at the bypass intersection — the only options then were going onto the bypass or turning to the Lahaina Cannery Mall.

Whalen said when he passed the Lahainaluna Road exit on the bypass, “there were a plethora of cars going down Lahainaluna Road trying to get into, I assume, their old neighborhoods trying to take stock of what was left, if anything.”

When they returned to Kihei, they had to turn on North Kihei Road as police had traffic stopped into town because of the accident. They arrived back in Kihei around 3:30 p.m.

Osborne said his parents apartment in Honokowai is currently without power — he also lives there, but has been spending the last few days with friends in South Maui.

* Managing Editor Colleen Uechi can be reached at cuechi@mauinews.com. Staff Writer Rob Collias can be reached at rcollias@mauinews.com. Staff Writer Melissa Tanji can be reached at mtanji@mauinews.com.