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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Thursday, January 30, 2003

Park protects native forest from fires

Advertiser Staff

Federal officials said a 2-mile-long fireline has so far been successful in protecting a Big Island rain forest from brushfires ignited by the lava surging out of Kilauea volcano.

A firefighter monitors the progress of lava flowing through a rain forest in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, ensuring that lava-generated fires do not rampage through the stands of native 'ohi'a.

Rhonda Loh • National Park Service

Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park fire management officer Jack Minassian said none of the native forest has been lost to lava-generated fires since November. Federal firefighters have been suppressing fires, building control lines and dropping water by helicopter.

Another 40 firefighters from the Mainland were flown to the Big Island this week on a 21-day assignment to help with the effort, replacing a crew that arrived in December.

The firefighting crews are from Yosemite National Park, the Whiskeytown-Shasta-Trinity National Recreation Area and the Mendocino National Forest.

Volcanoes National Park has been suppressing lava-generated fires since mid-November as lava flowed west into forested areas.

If the native forest burns, the 'ohi'a trees, hapu'u ferns and maile vines would be destroyed, only to be supplanted by alien grasses, scaly swordfern and other nonnative vegetation.

"If the fire breaks out and runs, a uniquely Hawaiian ecosystem will be forever lost," said park resource management chief Tim Tunison. "The native rain forest will turn into a weed patch."

The volcano itself hasn't been helping. The volume of lava flowing from the Pu'u 'O'o vent has increased since mid-December to about 1,000,000 cubic meters a day, an amount that would fill about 100,000 dump trucks, according to park officials.