A month after a ferocious fire razed a town in Maui, 66 people remained unaccounted for as workers continued to remove toxic debris from the burn site, a process that could take almost a year, Hawaii Governor Josh Green said on Friday.

The official death toll of the August 8 fire that left the historic town of Lahaina in charred ruins still stands at 115 people, a number unchanged in more than two weeks. 

Only 60 of those victims had been identified as of Thursday, according to the Maui Police Department.

Officials have said some victims may have been cremated in the blaze, leaving no remains to recover; a final death toll is uncertain, as is the future of the land where Lahaina stood.

Earlier in September, county and federal officials circulated a list of more than 380 people still unaccounted for. By Friday, the list had been reduced to 66 people, the governor said in remarks broadcast online.

While some families wait in limbo, relatives of those confirmed dead face additional difficulties as they had been told that no remain would be released until officials were sure the burn area had been cleared of all human remains and that obtaining a death certificate could take months.

Survivors of the fire have not been allowed to return to survey the ruins of their homes and businesses. "The ash, we are told, is quite toxic, so we need to be careful," Green said.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers are leading the removal of toxic debris from Lahaina, a clean-up that Green said would take "the better part of a year" and cost about $1 billion.

More than 6,000 survivors of the fire are still sheltering in hotel rooms, Green said. The Federal Emergency Management Agency was helping the state provide housing grants and rental assistance for displaced people for the next 18 months, he said.

Inefficient government relief efforts

Days after the deadliest wildfire in Lahaina, more local residents complained about slow progress in the government's relief work.

Cassidy and Alexa Kailieha, residents from another tourist island Oahu, said their family in Lahaina had suffered great losses and lived without food since the wildfires crept on the island. They accused government agencies of blocking roads leading to the town, preventing aid and donations from getting to the devastated area.

"They're just standing there blocking the road. They haven't passed out one simple water bottle, a plate of lunch, nothing," Alexa told NBC. "They're just standing there and letting our families starve and not letting us help them."

Maui residents also disclosed that private volunteers served as far more of a lifeline than federal and local agencies who failed to meet their overwhelming, urgent needs, according to The New York Times.

Hundreds of evacuees from the wildfires "have been searching desperately for gasoline, phone reception and hot food, especially after power outages rendered refrigerators and microwaves useless," the report said. "In many cases, they have leaned on church groups, community organizations and volunteers to track down missing relatives, get rides to shelters or access supplies brought in on private boats and airplanes."

Besides the lagging rescue and relief work, questions about Hawaii's emergency siren warning system have also been raised, as the sirens sat silent during the deadly wildfires.

Lawsuits are piling up in court over liability for the inferno, and businesses across the island are fretting about the loss of tourism, according to the Associated Press.

Lahaina was built along the shore where Maui's western volcano slopes down into the Pacific Ocean, and it was the former seat of the Hawaiian Kingdom before becoming a popular tourist destination. How it might be rebuilt remains unclear.

(With input from agencies)