The road will remain closed until the area is cleared by an Army explosives-disposal team, said Deborah Ward, spokeswoman for the state Department of Land and Natural Resources.

Members of that team were busy Monday removing a 250-pound unexploded bomb at Makua Beach on O'ahu, she said. It was not known when the disposal team would be able to fly to Maui to handle the ordnance found late Friday in the reserve's 'a'a lava fields by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

The corps officials were searching the area as a follow-up to the discovery of ordnance in the area a few months ago, she said. That ordnance was disposed of at an Army firing range.

Ward did not have details on the type or size of the four objects found at Ahihi-Kinau, but she said officials were concerned enough about the discovery to close the area, at least temporarily, out of concern for public safety.

A state enforcement officer and Ahihi-Kinau resource rangers were posted at the parking lot of Kanahena, or "Dumps," to turn people away from the road into Ahihi-Kinau, she said.

"This is a closure for public safety," she said.