Pele burns hale
Lava from Kilauea Volcano’s so-called June 27 flow ignited its first house in Pahoa on Monday and threatened more destruction in the days ahead.
Hawaii County Civil Defense Director Darryl Oliveira said a finger of the flow entered a residential property on Cemetery Road on Sunday morning, then inched around the sidewalk before setting the house ablaze at about 11:55 a.m. Monday.
The house collapsed at about 12:45 p.m., he said.
It was the first house to go up in flames since the lava moved into Pahoa more than two weeks ago. Since then the lava has crossed Apaa Street, overrun a Buddhist cemetery and destroyed multiple structures.
Oliveira said a garage/barn structure also on the property remains intact — for now.
"The flow is widening enough, and we’re hopeful that things will cool down enough that the structure will be spared, but it’s possible it could catch on fire as well," he said.
As of Monday afternoon the width of the flow on the property was about 150 feet and was nearing a fishpond.
According to county documents, the 45-acre lot belongs to Mary and Woodrow Pelfrey as part of a trust called Four Pelfrey TR, based in Fairview, Ore.
They bought the property in 1985 for $54,700.
Until Monday the value was about $200,000, Oliveira said.
The Pelfreys built the ranch-style two-bedroom, two-bathroom house in 1992.
Oliveira said one of their family members living on the north side of the island visited the house Monday.
KHON2 quoted that family member, James Pelfrey, as sending his thoughts and prayers to the renters of the property and reminiscing about the home that’s been in his family for decades.
Officials previously said homeowners will be allowed to make arrangements to watch their homes burn down as a means of closure and to document the destruction for insurance purposes.
While it’s still uncertain as to where the pahoehoe lava will go next, Civil Defense officials said they’re watching the flow closely.
Three active breakouts are being monitored in the areas of the cemetery below Apaa Street, in the area west or above the transfer station, and upslope about 0.4 mile from Apaa Street.
One lobe is approaching the fence of the transfer station, another is heading toward abandoned buildings across the street and a third is moving along the margin of the existing lava flow and approaching a power pole.
The lava was moving at a rate of 3 to 5 yards per hour Monday.
And while the front of the flow remained stalled about 480 feet from Pahoa Village Road, Oliveira said, county officials are still apprehensive about opening the road to through traffic. Thermal imagery shows there’s still some activity near the flow front.
Over the weekend, volcano scientists released photos of lava on Apaa Road that showed how the flow has been inflating since the front stalled.
The contrasting photos show lava crossing Apaa Road on Oct. 25 and the lava on the road on Nov. 4. When the lava first crossed the road, it was 3 feet thick, but 10 days later, on Nov. 4, it was 12 feet thick.
A power pole, surrounded by lava in the photos, gives some perspective on the inflation and how high the lava has risen.
Also on Monday about 400 students whose school is in the projected path of the lava flow started classes in portable buildings set up in the parking lot of Keaau High School. The newly created Keonepoko North School replaces Keonepoko Elementary School in Hawaiian Beaches.
Another 450 students at other Pahoa-area schools also started classes Monday in Keaau.
Donalyn Dela Cruz, a spokeswoman for the Department of Education, said the transition went well Monday.
"Overall it went pretty smoothly," she said. "There were several absences. We’re waiting to see what happens on Wednesday."
Tuesday is Veterans Day.
She said there was some confusion with parents taking kids to the wrong schools, but other than that there were no reported problems.
There has been increased traffic in the area, but school officials intend to address traffic concerns over the next few weeks, she said.
Schools in the area were closed last month to prepare for the transfer of about 1,700 students and 300 employees to other schools on their side of the lava’s projected path.
Classes resumed Friday at Pahoa High School with hundreds of new students who had been attending Keaau High School.