Twenty evacuated Big Island Hawaiian Ocean View Estates subdivision residents began returning home at 5 p.m. today after a Schofield-based Army Explosive Ordnance Destruction team resolved a situation involving an explosive device in the area.

Assistant police chief Henry Tavares said King Kamehameha Boulevard, which was closed at 8 a.m., was reopened at 5 p.m. and that the closure presented no major traffic problems for Hawaiian Ocean View Estates, a subdivision of 10,000 homes in the Ka'u District located west of the southern-most tip of the island.

Tavares declined comment on the explosive device but police did arrest three residents of a King Kamehameha Boulevard home for investigation of felony ownership of a prohibited explosive device. Charges are pending against Bernard Rivera, 53; Lucille Greenstreet, 50, and Randy Rivera, 22, who are being held at the Kona police cellblock.

The 20 residents evacuated were from 10 homes. Police requested a voluntary evacuation after serving a search warrant for explosives on the home where the three were arrested.

The Hawai'i Chapter of the American Red Cross opened a shelter for the families affected by the investigation, which closed the intersections of Princess Kaiulani and King Kamehameha Boulevard in Ocean View.