Big Island teen dies after crash

Big Island police said a 17-year-old Pahoa boy died early yesterday morning from injuries he received in a two-vehicle crash Tuesday night in Hawaiian Beaches.

The driver of a 2009 Dodge pickup, a 74-year-old Pahoa man, crossed the center line while heading east on Kahakai Boulevard and hit a 1989 Subaru two-door sedan, police said. Fire rescue personnel took both drivers, including the 17-year-old boy, to Hilo Medical Center. The boy was flown to the Queen's Medical Center in Honolulu, where he died at 2:02 a.m., police said. Police said speed was a factor.

The boy's identity is being withheld pending notification of family, police said. Police have opened a negligent homicide investigation and ordered an autopsy to determine the exact cause of death. Anyone with information is asked to call officer Clarence Davies at 961-8118.

It was the fifth Big Island traffic fatality this year, compared with one at the same time last year.

Waianae driver badly hurt after hitting guardrail post

A 53-year-old Waianae man was critically injured yesterday in a one-vehicle crash in Nanakuli near the Kahe Point power plant.

The man was driving Waianae-bound on Farrington Highway in a white 1993 Ford F-150 pickup truck when he veered right onto the shoulder and struck a guardrail post head-on, police said.

The crash occurred at 3:15 p.m. yesterday, half a mile west of Aliinui Drive.

The man was taken in critical condition to Hawaii Medical Center West, police said.

Firefighters mopping up 1,800-acre Big Isle blaze

Big Island firefighters focused on putting out hot spots and dousing flare-ups yesterday in the 1,800-acre Kealakekua Mauka brush fire, which started Dec. 27.

Fire Chief Darryl Oliveira said yesterday that cleanup operations would continue through the night.

Three brush trucks and four all-terrain vehicles were used and personnel from the county Fire Department, Kamehameha Schools and Forest Solutions continued the mop-up work.

Victim in motorcycle crash identified as Denver man

Big Island police identified the motorcyclist who died last Thursday on Akaka Falls Road as Herman A. Dietrich, 62, of Denver.

Dietrich died from injuries he sustained in the crash on Akaka Falls Road near the 1-mile marker.

South Hilo patrol officers said the victim was driving a 2009 Harley-Davidson motorcycle when he lost control and ran off the right side of the road.

The victim's 63-year-old wife, who was a passenger on the motorcycle, was taken to Hilo Medical Center in critical condition. She will be transferred to the Queen's Medical Center on Oahu. The victim and his wife were wearing motorcycle helmets.

NEIGHBOR ISLANDS

Crash kills Kapaa man, injures pair

A 32-year-old Kapaa man died Tuesday night in a two-car crash on Kaumualii Highway near the entrance to Kahili Mt. Park, according to Kauai County officials.

An Omao man, who was driving the other vehicle, was in serious condition at Wilcox Hospital, and his passenger, a 27-year-old Kilauea man, is in fair condition at Wilcox.

Police said the Omao man, 31, was headed in the Lihue-bound direction in a white Ford pickup on Kaumualii Highway at 10:16 p.m. when he crossed the center line and collided head-on with a white GMC truck. The Kapaa man was the sole occupant of the GMC truck.

The highway was closed following the crash and was reopened at around 3:30 a.m. This was Kauai's first fatal crash this year, officials said.