Smoke causes evacuation at Keck 2

Smoke caused evacuation of the control room of the Keck 2 telescope atop Mauna Kea Wednesday afternoon.

According to W.M. Keck Observatory spokeswoman Mari-Ela Chock, the summit crew reported the smoke at about 3 p.m. She said the control room for the telescope is housed separately from the telescope’s dome.

“It did trigger our smoke alarms and that’s why we evacuated everybody,” Chock said. “There were no visible flames. No one was injured. We evacuated right away.”

Chock said at about 5:15 p.m. that fire units from the Pohakuloa Training Area responded to the summit observatory and cleared the room of the smoke.

“They gave the green light for everyone to re-enter,” she said. “It looks like it was an electrical issue with the air conditioning unit in the control room. It was minor damage but we do take the safety of our folks very, very seriously, so we evacuate … anytime a smoke alarm goes off.”

Chock said 17 people were evacuated but returned after getting clearance from the PTA fire crew. Hawaii County firefighters were on standby but weren’t needed.

She said similar incidents occurred in 2005 and in the late 1990s.

Stewart Hunter, general manager of Mauna Kea Support Services said at about 4:30 p.m. that Mauna Kea Access Road “is closed due to an incident at the summit.”

Chock said the all-clear was given at about 5:06 p.m. but the road remained closed until about 6:05 p.m., when it was reported reopened on the Mauna Kea Weather Center website.

“We keep it closed until the (emergency vehicles) go down past the visitors’ center,” Hunter said. “They go down the hill really slow because it’s a very steep grade and it’s really tough on the brakes.”

Email John Burnett at jburnett@hawaiitribune-herald.com.