Hawaii volcano causes 75-acre wildfire

Kilauea erupts from new fissure causing wildfire
Lava erupts from a vent in the forest several miles east of the National Park Service visitor center. NPS photo by David Okita.

The Kilauea volcano in Hawaii began erupting through a new fissure in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park on March 5. This new event, called the Kamoamoa Fissure Eruption, occurred in a forested area and has ignited the vegetation, causing at least 75 acres to burn since Sunday. The eruption is now “paused”, but park ranger Mardie Lane said the fire was creeping through Ohia Forest in an area that has burned at least twice previously because of lava flows. Firefighters planned to fly over the area Tuesday to assess the situation.

Below is a screen grab from a 6-minute video of the new eruption.

Hawaii volcano wildfire

The National Park Service has six live cameras in the volcano area.

 

Kilauea volcano causes wildfire
On March 9, 2011 the channelized flow from the western vent complex advanced significantly downslope through forest. Click to enlarge. NPS photo.

That looks a little like a two-track road in the photo above, but I’m pretty sure you would not want to drive on it since it is MOLTEN LAVA.

More photos and daily updates of the volcano.

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Author: Bill Gabbert

After working full time in wildland fire for 33 years, he continues to learn, and strives to be a Student of Fire.

One thought on “Hawaii volcano causes 75-acre wildfire”

  1. I was on the Kilauea volcano fire in 2002 where I served on a helitack crew for two weeks. From my experience, fighting fire in Hawaii is so different than the lower 48s. You had to fly everywhere, you had to worry about the Vog gas from the volcano, and you were never sure if the ground would give out. Wild.

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