iahphx

Yeah, I'm glad I got to go last year for the last time. Ironically, as I may have mentioned before, I was thinking of going last month but I'd never been there in summer and thought it might be a little hot (no air-conditioning). I'll be hunting for a new Hawaiian destination for next winter and spring.

My kids, now getting to be young adults, will have the longest memories of what Kapoho was like. When they tell people we rented (fairly cheap) houses with our own thermal-heated tidepool, people won't believe it.

I do hope someday I'll be able to walk around the new lava at Kapoho and see what the devastation is like. I think I'll need the closure. I'm sure it will be weird, but with all the new land, I probably won't recognize anything.

DELee

Well, even though I thought I had some shots from around Pahoa, Lava Tree State Monument and the Kumakahi Lighthouse from last year, I'm not finding them.

However, with all of the LERZ (Lower East Rift Zone) activity, I've been watching the kipuka and the buildings there in the immediate shadow of Fissure 8 from the research webcam to see if the kipuka was going to get swallowed up by the lava over these past few weeks:


Sometimes you could only see a glint of a roof:


Sometimes the smoke and ash completely obscured it:


Sometimes, you'd think it was gone:


I'd even look at the webcam shots at night to see but mostly it was Fissure 8 and its lava flow:


And sometimes the lighting conditions were ideal to see that the kipuka still existed:


Or even just before sunrise:


So it is still there.

Here's shots from today - you can see the small cone that Fissure 22 has been building...:


And what nightfall shows:


David

Arthurrs

Hi David,
Could you share the link to this camera? Very cool pictures!!
Arthur

DELee

All Kilauea webcams: https://volcanoes.usgs.gov/volcanoes/kilauea/multimedia_webcams.html

Webcam shots of (principally) Fissure 8 pointed basically WNW: https://volcanoes.usgs.gov/observatories/hvo/webcam.html?webcam=PGcam

David

cblaisd

12 injured after lava explodes onto tour boat - Hawaii Tribune-Herald

747FC

Thanks for sharing. A shame. And a reminder that the Big Island is not an amusement park.

tatterdema

Last year or the year before, one of the boats had a soft top, and hunks of hot lava came flying through the air and burnt holes all over the top. Good thing this boat had a solid top. While I would love to take one of the boat trips, I would have to make sure it was with an operator that kept a safe distance, and not with an adventurous cowboy.

747FC

Actually, 23 are now reported as injured.

?Lava bomb? through roof of tour boat injures 23 off Hawaii island

Arthurrs

So many conflicting media stories on what happened, how many affected, heck, they even screwed up on who the tour boat operator was. I'm sure in time we'll get the full (and accurate) story. Personally I'd rather take a helicopter to see the lava.

DenverBrian

Personally I'll rely on photos and videos. If a lava bomb can travel 600 feet to a boat, it's possible it could travel 1000 feet in the air to a hovering helicopter. @:-)

Lavarock7

You may have seen the video recently of the lava boat which took a 'lava bomb'.

I actually met the guy who took the only video, and his partner. They stopped by for coffee at a local farm where I was.

His partner received a slight burn on her leg and her cellphone, which was put on the deck to look at her leg, and the cellphone got partially melted. I suggested she save the phone for prosperity. Most people had superficial burns or scrapes in trying to get to the other side of the boat. There were 40 people on board I heard. The woman who went to the hospital may have been injured from debris, however I am hearing that people on the boat say she may have been trampled. The boat was full of people and of course rocking.

For what they thought was going to be a simple tour to see the lava flow, they sure have a story to tell for many years to come.

Madame Pele does not fool around!

As for the operator, I understand that he was very skilled and was one if not the first operator allowed by officials to get back to tours after the initial hold. Also I was told (don't know) that a previous fine had to do with leaving from a dock which was recently closed. After the lava started, the closest dock to the flow was closed, Some operators still used it because switching to Hilo meant a 45 minute ride each way, adding almost 2 hours to the tour. The dock I think is still there but I need to check. So yes, people were fined.

Note in the article that the distance to keep away is not set in stone (pun not intended), it is on a case by case basis. The Coast Guard allowed this operator to be within 50 meters while others were limited to 300 meters! Seems the Coast Guard felt he could operate safely at that distance.

Tour boat operator involved in a lava bomb incident has history of passenger issues

beckoa

Thanks for the detailed update.

When I first heard of this, I immediately thought @Lavarock7 . Glad that everyone was ok from the incident and yes, they have an epic story to share.

And I don't recall stopping at the Hilo Zoo~ will need to check it out next time.

747FC

Unfortunately, yesterday a Big Island police officer was shot to death yesterday by someone with a very long arrest history. This happened on Highway 11, near Puna. RIP officer Kaliloa..

https://www.civilbeat.org/2018/07/bi...uspect-sought/

U.S. marshals and ATF offer rewards in manhunt for suspect in killing of Big Island officer

DELee

Hmm. One of HVO's observation points right now....in bed at Volcano House?



David

Finkface

And I think our friend #Lavarock7 had some excitement in his neighbourhood last night. This happened just a few hundred from where a friend of mine lives, right off Middle Keei Rd. The killer wasn’t in the car, it turns out but they got him this morning.
http://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/story/3...fatal-shooting