Big Island road
reopens after wildfires

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By Peter Serafin
Special to the Star-Bulletin

VOLCANO, Hawaii >> Hawaii Volcanos National Park acting Superintendent Aleta Knight announced that Chain of Craters Road was reopened to the public at noon yesterday.

Visitors are once again allowed to drive to the end of the road and hike the marked trail the three-quarters of a mile to the lava viewing area. Park officials closed the road last Monday due to wildfires sparked by the flowing lava.

The lava reached the road at 10:05 a.m. Thursday and had crossed it an hour later on its way to the sea. About 85 National Park Service firefighters continue battling blazes caused by surface lava flowing through native forests.

Yesterday, firefighters set a "controlled burn" of four acres makai of Chain of Craters Road. The purpose was to reduce the threat of a lava-ignited wildfire near the newly established lava viewing zone.

Another nearby finger of lava, west and mauka of the road's end, is heading for the ocean. Firefighters may burn several more grassy acres to protect a coconut palm grove from a potential wildfire.