Scientists warn that the months-long flow from Kilauea volcano will cause more damage to property as it approaches populated areas
Lava has been slowly snaking its way toward rural Hawaii communities for months, but it took an oozing stream of molten rock just 45 minutes to burn down an empty house.
Firefighters standing by to tackle any spreading wildfires let the flames consume the 1,100-squ-foot structure Monday afternoon as a relative of the homeowner watched and recorded video of the destruction with an iPhone.
It was the first house incinerated by a lava flow from Kilauea volcano on the Big Island that scientists have been warning the public about since August. And it likely won’t be the last.
The home’s nearest neighbour is about a half-mile away, Hawaii county civil defense director Darryl Oliveira said. A garage and barn structure near the destroyed home could also burn down soon, he said.
The lava emerged from a vent in June and entered Pahoa, the largest town in Big Island’s isolated and mostly agricultural Puna district, on 26 October. Since then, it has smothered part of a cemetery and burned down a garden shed. It also burned tires, some metal materials and mostly vegetation in its path.
The leading edge of the lava flow had bypassed the home, but it was a lobe of lava that broke out upslope and widened that reached the house. Where the lava will reach next, and when, is hard to predict.
http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2014/nov/11/hawaii-kilauea-lava-house-fire-pahoa
Firefighters standing by to tackle any spreading wildfires let the flames consume the 1,100-squ-foot structure Monday afternoon as a relative of the homeowner watched and recorded video of the destruction with an iPhone.
It was the first house incinerated by a lava flow from Kilauea volcano on the Big Island that scientists have been warning the public about since August. And it likely won’t be the last.
The home’s nearest neighbour is about a half-mile away, Hawaii county civil defense director Darryl Oliveira said. A garage and barn structure near the destroyed home could also burn down soon, he said.
The lava emerged from a vent in June and entered Pahoa, the largest town in Big Island’s isolated and mostly agricultural Puna district, on 26 October. Since then, it has smothered part of a cemetery and burned down a garden shed. It also burned tires, some metal materials and mostly vegetation in its path.
The leading edge of the lava flow had bypassed the home, but it was a lobe of lava that broke out upslope and widened that reached the house. Where the lava will reach next, and when, is hard to predict.
http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2014/nov/11/hawaii-kilauea-lava-house-fire-pahoa
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