Paris Hilton photographed holidaying on fire-stricken island of Maui

Paris Hilton has shared links to a charity in Hawaii after being photographed holidaying with her husband and baby son on holiday in Maui.

The hotel heiress’s visit to the island comes despite officials’ plea for tourists to stay away, as residents continue to reel from the ongoing devastation caused by wildfires.

Hilton, 42, was seen with husband Carter Reum, also 42, and their baby boy Phoenix at a resort in Wailea, located 30 miles from the historic town of Lahaina, which has been razed by the wildfires.

According to the Daily Mail, Hilton arrived on the island on Tuesday (8 August), which is when the wildfires began to overwhelm Lahaina. The following day, the Hawaii Tourism Authority (HTA) asked tourists to leave Maui “as rescue and recovery efforts continue”.

The HTA said that while “non-essential travel to Maui is strongly discouraged at this time”, it added: “Currently, travel is still welcomed to the island of Hawaii. Visitors are encouraged to contact their hotel accommodations provider and airlines for updates that could affect their stay on the island.”

It is unclear when Hilton and her family left the island or at what point during the holiday the photographs were taken. The Daily Mail quoted a source as saying that the “Star Are Blind” singer “has been absolutely helping” in the disaster, adding: “Maui has always held a special place in her heart. She has been gathering supplies and taking them to shelters and those who need. She already did and continues to do so.”

On her Instagram Stories, Hilton shared two posts by the Hawaii Community Foundation, which has started a fund to “provide flexible, quickly deployed resources to support Maui residents”.

In one of her posts, Hilton added a praying hands emoji. Both posts encourage people to donate to the fund in order to help the charity “support communities through services including shelter, food, financial assistance and other needs as they arise”.

However, the photographs of Hilton holidaying on the island have been met with backlash, as people criticised her decision to go there in a time of crisis.

On Twitter, one person said: “Wow. Read the room.”

Another added: “Paris Hilton literally had the whole world to choose from, but…”

The Independent has contacted Hilton’s representative for comment.

As of Monday morning (14 August), the death toll has reached 93, with hundreds of people still missing. Maui County officials have said that tens of thousands of people have been evacuated from the island by air.

Hawaii governor Josh Green described the wildfire as a “fire hurricane” as the flames were fanned by 60mph winds from Hurricane Dora, which had just passed the island. The state has also suffered from drought conditions due to climate change and difficulties with water management, which encouraged the fire to spread even more quickly.

Green told MSNBC on Sunday (13 August): “Everything is burnt to the ground in Lahaina. When fire jumped from one spot to another – there were three or four fires going on at the same time – it got seeded very quickly with those 80mph gusted winds.

“And then the fire moved at essentially a mile per minute, 60mph down through the community. That’s what a fire hurricane is going to look like in the era of global warming.”

Celebrities who have been calling for more aid to be sent to Maui include Jason Momoa, who is Hawaiian, and Mick Fleetwood, who owned a restaurant in Lahaina which he said has been burnt down.

Momoa recently issued a stern warning to people going on holiday who might still be hoping to travel to Maui. He shared a post stating: “Maui is not the place to have your vacation right now. DO NOT TRAVEL TO MAUI.

“Do not convince yourself that your presence is needed on an island that is suffering this deeply. Mahalo to everyone who has donated and shown aloha to the community in this time of need.”