Army may help fight fire

By Hugh Clark
Advertiser Big Island Bureau

VOLCANO, Hawai'i — It was overcast and drizzling at Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park headquarters yesterday, but less than 10 miles away, a growing army of firefighters battled a wildfire in the Kalapana section of the park for the 19th straight day.

Fresh pahoehoe — ropy, taffylike lava from Kilauea — is what is igniting wildfires at Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park, where crews are hoping that the Army will send two helicopters from O‘ahu to help battle the blaze. Photo courtesy USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory

Jack Minassian of the park's fire management office yesterday requested the help of two Army Blackhawk helicopters from Schofield Barracks on O'ahu. Minassian said he expects to learn today if the Army can join the firefighting effort.

The fire was ignited May 17 by lava from the ongoing Kilauea eruption.

The Chain of Craters Road at Pauahi Crater, which is four miles down the mountain from Crater Rim Drive, has been closed since the fire flared up Friday, burning more than 1,700 acres within 24 hours.

Minassian said this fire is the most challenging of his 14 years at the park. Although there have been larger fires, none has persisted as long or been as difficult and potentially hazardous to firefighters, because of the terrain, the danger from lava flows and the presence of underground lava tubes.

Fifty-five firefighters from National Park Service properties on the Big Island are battling the blaze with the help of 80 specially trained "hot shots" from the Mainland.

There are four Mainland crews — one from the National Park Service, one with the U.S. Forest Service in Arizona, and two Forest Service crews from California.

Although no populated areas are threatened, there is concern for saving remnants of native forest that are home to birds found only on the Big Island, rare beetles and stands of ebony lama, a native hardwood tree used by ancient Hawaiians in medicine and placed in hula altars.

Park Ranger Mardie Lane said the firefighting effort also is aimed at preserving archaeological features left by Hawaiians who once lived in villages along the coast.

Officials reported that the fire has not spread in the past 48 hours. Yesterday, firefighters worked to cut a control line by hand around the burn's perimeter and to cut down trees that were smoldering. Helicopters buzzed overhead, using 160 gallon-buckets to drop water on hot spots. The helicopters requested from the Army use 660-gallon buckets.

Lane said a shift in the weather yesterday afternoon to hot, dry and windy conditions could cause the fire to flare up again and spread.