Some Hawaii island residents are concerned that a dry summer could increase the risk that fires set by lava could eat through the thick forest behind their houses.
But Kilauea’s sluggish Kahaualea 2 flow, less than two miles from some Puna homes, poses no imminent danger to residents, Hawaii County Civil Defense and community leaders are emphasizing.
Unlike many of the past flows on Kilauea’s East Rift Zone that ran south to the ocean, the Kahaualea 2 is slowly moving northeast from the Puu Oo crater floor, on a parallel path to some Puna communities.
"There is no imminent threat to the communities," said Hawaii County Civil Defense Administrator Darryl Oliveira, adding that his agency is working closely with the scientists at the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory.
Oliveira pointed out that this is not the first flow to head in that direction, and that a U.S. Geological Survey map showing the latest flow reveals other fingers from old flows pointing in the same direction, but never coming close to homes.
The observatory is doing overflights and is plotting of the flow’s advancement. Its website says the Kahaualea 2 flow, which became active in May, "does not pose any immediate threat to residential areas."
However, it warns "near-vent areas could erupt or collapse without warning with spatter and/or ash being wafted within the gas plume and potentially lethal concentrations of sulfur dioxide gas may be present within 1 kilometer downwind of vent areas."
It also warns active lava flows inside the forest can produce methane blasts, which propel rocks and debris into the air.
Oliveira and scientists from the volcano observatory attended a community meeting Thursday evening at the invitation of the Fern Acres, Fern Forest and Hawaiian Acres community associations, as they have for other communities in the area.
"We’re just taking precautionary steps in case things change," said Frank Commendador, president of the Hawaiian Acres Community Association. "Lava is not going to flow in our backyard. … It’s heading towards Highway 130, and it’s kind of meandering very slowly."
The community’s real concern is summer forest fires, which could prompt evacuations, he said.
Fern Acres has an ad hoc committee to identify owners of lots that abut the forest reserve, identify roads that lead to the backside of properties, identify ingress points from private property into the forest, and identify private resources such as bulldozers to create firebreaks, Commendador said.
Fern Acres is also pushing the county to reopen an alternate route, Lauko Road, because South Kulani Road, which it shares with Hawaiian Acres, is the only "escape route," Commendador said.
Fern Acres has a population of about 1,800 with about 2,000 2-acre lots, while Hawaiian Acres has 3,000 lots, he said.
While residents are "smelling smoke from the burning trees and brush," no one is alarmed at this point, Oliveira said.
But he said he is concerned that any suggestion that the flow might threaten communities "has the potential for creating fear and anxiety" and may even cause property values to drop as they did in 2007.
"I sincerely believe that this lava flow will not be affecting anyone any time soon, but everyone should make normal preparations to evacuate as with a hurricane, tsunami or brush fire," said Ken Cutting, coordinator for the Hawaiian Acres Community Watch and a volunteer firefighter.
