Big Island wildfire partly contained

By Hugh Clark
Advertiser Big Island Bureau

VOLCANO, Hawai'i — Officials say they have contained 65 percent of a wildfire that has been burning at Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park since May 17.

A crew from Haleakala National Park on Maui joined the firefighting effort yesterday, which also saw the reopening of the Chain of Craters Road on a limited basis.

The fire, started by a lava flow from the long-running Kilauea eruption, has blackened 3,660 acres in the Holei Pali area above the Kalapana coast.

Also yesterday, two Army Blackhawk helicopters from the 25th Infantry Division at Schofield Barracks that had been assisting with water drops returned to their home base. Five charter helicopters are continuing the work.

Eighty Mainland firefighters with the U.S. Forest Service and the National Park Service are on the fire lines with park personnel and emergency hires from Hawai'i.

The Chain of Craters Road is open between 6 p.m. and midnight only. Park officials are warning visitors that the two-mile walk to the lava-viewing area is rough and uneven, with cracks and loose rocks.

The road is expected to remain closed during daylight hours for at least another week, so as not to interfere with firefighting operations.