There was a soft, rhythmic crunching of the glassy crust underfoot as the group of about 20 journalists trudged their way across the stalled lava flow.
There was a soft, rhythmic crunching of the glassy crust underfoot as the group of about 20 journalists trudged their way across the stalled lava flow.
Having crossed Apa‘a Street just south of the Pahoa transfer station Oct. 25, the flow crusted over and inflated from its original height of 1 foot to between 6 and 10 feet, and even higher in some places.
“There was a flow that stalled in Kalapana years ago, and after six months they went out there with a (Caterpillar) D9 (bulldozer) to try and clear away the lava rock, and it was still so hot it boiled all the oil in the D9’s crankcase,” said Frank Trusdell, a geologist with the U.S. Geological Survey’s Hawaiian Volcano Observatory.
As the scientist explained this, some members of the media turned their gaze from the eerie layer of shimmering air above the still warm surface of the flow in the distance to their own feet, and the cracked black ground below, which still released warm little columns of air as the heat rose up and out. At least one reporter shifted his weight and changed locations quickly, in case that particular spot was weakened by his standing in one place too long.
“I’m sure that if you cut into the center out there,” Trusdell said, sweeping his hand in the direction of the center of the stalled flow, “you would see bright orange. It’s definitely still hot.”
Monday marked the first official opportunity for members of the media to travel out to the lava flow under the guidance of Hawaii County Civil Defense and Hawaiian Volcano Observatory officials. Carrying cameras, notebooks, mobile devices and more, the group was ferried out to the Pahoa waste transfer station, where the lava flow had come within feet of impacting the structures there before it lost its momentum and ground to a halt.
Earlier in the morning Monday, more than 300 Pahoa-area students were given the same opportunity to view the area of the transfer station and learn from University of Hawaii at Hilo geology experts about the forces of nature that required many of them to be relocated to new schools.
“The students didn’t know a lot about the lava flow when they first got out here, and they had a lot of questions,” said Keaau Elementary Principal Keone Farias, the incoming complex area superintendent for the Department of Education’s Ka‘u, Keaau and Pahoa schools.
While there was plenty of Pele’s awesome power on display, the most impressive aspect of the trip for many keiki was meeting Civil Defense Administrator Darryl Oliveira, the man behind the voice they’ve heard reading daily lava flow updates since the flow began to threaten Pahoa and surrounding areas, Farias said with a laugh.
“He was definitely a hit,” he said. “It was putting a face to Civil Defense.”
Journalists weren’t allowed to be at the site while the students were there because of privacy concerns, and the fact the Department of Education didn’t want to stress the children any more than they have been after having to change schools to escape the effects of the lava flow.
Up to 1,000 students will have seen the lava off of Apa‘a Street by the end of the week, the principal said, and further field trips for other students on the island could follow.
To demonstrate the speed of the lava flow (averaging about 60 feet per hour), volunteers asked students to shuffle their feet a minute over the length of a few inches, according to a press release from the Hawaii DOE.
“You don’t have to outrun the lava, you can outwalk it,” said Don Thomas, director for UH-Hilo’s Center for the Study of Active Volcanoes.
Email Colin M. Stewart at cstewart@hawaiitribune-herald.com.