FL MORRIS / FMORRIS@STARBULLETIN.COM Vinson Galam, left, and Ferdinand Ray Cadiz examined on Monday the damage caused by a boulder that crashed into their Palolo Valley home.

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Boulder crash worries
Palolo neighborhood

CORRECTION Thursday, March 10, 2005 » The land above a Palolo Valley home that a boulder crashed into on Monday is owned by Maunalani Aerie, a private real estate business. A story on Page A5 yesterday incorrectly said the land was owned by two landowners. The Honolulu Star-Bulletin strives to make its news report fair and accurate. If you have a question or comment about news coverage, call Editor Frank Bridgewater at 529-4791 or email him at corrections@starbulletin.com.

Ferdinand Ray Cadiz and his two roommates may look for another place to live after a boulder crashed into their Palolo Valley home Monday.

Rocky History Previous boulder crashes in Palolo Valley: » November 1954: A 2-ton boulder crashes through the roof of a home. » April 1958: A 1-ton boulder hits a home. » March 1961: A boulder crushes a car outside home. » March 1993: A 2 1/2-foot-tall boulder falls off a sheer cliff face and crashes into a back corner of a home.

And some of their neighbors are worried more boulders could come crashing into their homes and cars.

"We all slept in the living room," Cadiz, 30, said.

The boulder weighs between 400 and 500 pounds and is about 4 feet in diameter. The boulder has yet to be removed from Cadiz's closet, where it came to a rest.

Oahu Civil Defense spokesman John Cummings earlier said the boulder came loose from the back of the ridgeline.

According to city spokesman Bill Brennan, the land above the home is privately owned by two landowners.

One of the owners is a real estate business called Maunalani Aerie, which owns 13.6 acres above the home. The owners could not be reached for comment. Brennan did not have information on the other landowner.

The private landowners are responsible for the removal of the boulder and damage to the home, state officials said. The landowners would also need to hire a private engineering firm to investigate the origin of the rock, according to Deborah Ward of the state Department of Land and Natural Resources.

Cadiz, a security guard at the Hyatt Regency, was working when the boulder crashed through Ki Hyun Oh's bedroom wall shortly after 6 p.m. Monday.

The boulder then went through the closet into Cadiz's bedroom before it came to rest in his closet. Cadiz's roommates, Oh and Vinson Galam, were in the living room when they heard rumbling sounds.

The three roommates moved into the four-bedroom Palolo Valley home at 2035A 10th Ave. in December of last year.

A few weeks after they moved in, Cadiz said a boulder rolled down the cliffside, several feet away from their home. It hit a tree and came to rest several feet below their home. That boulder is similar in size to the one that crashed into the house.

"I didn't think anything of it until yesterday," Oh said of the first boulder.

A few houses away, Monica Chen of 2047-A 10th Ave. also recalled hearing and seeing the same boulder falling near the men's home sometime on New Year's Eve.

"That was a bit of a warning, but it happened all the way over there," said Chen, who lives with her boyfriend, Joe Tatekawa, and another roommate.

Chen said she is now considering looking into car and rent insurance. "When you have one boulder coming down, it's more than likely that more are coming," she said.

"We're definitely afraid," said neighbor Tara Daniel, who lives directly below the home occupied by the three roommates.

Daniel said her 14-year-old daughter, Jasmin, told her she could not go to sleep Monday after the boulder incident occurred.

"It's definitely scary," said Daniel, who has two other children, a 2-year-old and a 6-year-old.