Hawaii Island Lava Flow Disaster May 16-31, 2018
Aloha family, friends, and other viewers from around the world, I am finally back home after being away in the Big Island for over a month now. The first two weeks I was on State Active Duty Orders with the Hawaii National Guard in assisting with the current lava disaster that was going on over there. Initially I volunteered to help with the efforts weeks before we left and when we got the call to leave, I was ready and knew that I would be there from start to finish and for the rest of annual training as well.
My time there was a memorable and unforgettable experience. Our missions was to provide security and safety for the residents and people of the affected areas and help evacuate them, should things get out of hand with the lava activity. We worked along side with local law enforcement and DLNR officers at checkpoints to ensure that only residents were allowed through permitted areas and non-residents were kept out from those places. We also had a roving patrol team drive around the area of operation, to report of any new activity with lava, cracks on the road, suspicious people a trespassers, etc.
There is a lot I can say and want to write about but it would be so much to put into so I'll be explaining my experience for the two weeks there through the photos I took each day. I hope that the people who were displaced by this event will be able to rebuild and seek life again. The current situation of this event is till ongoing and may never stop for a long time. Hope you all will enjoy my documentation of what I was seeing from my perspective.
Photo above was on the last day of our orders during the lava mission. The night sky was getting more intense and was the only night that was bright red from I could recall.
On the first day we got here, we were given a tour of the whole area of operation. Sergeant Major Prey was one of the persons in charge of the operations along with various members of the Hawaii Army and Air Guard. He took us to al the checkpoints and got to check out the lava flow from Kapoho road. It was here that the lava activity was still small compared to what it is now. We also seen a lot of people parked on the side of the road watching as well. It would be days later that this road would be shut down completely for residents only and then eventually cut off from the current lava flow into Kapoho Bay.
This was one of the active fissures at this time of our mission, it was shooting lava about a few hundreds of feet into the air. This was also near Highway 132 and as we drove along that side, we could see it behind the trees and peoples homes. Later on towards the second week of our stay here, it died out and fissure 8 became one of the active fissures after that.
On the way driving back from checkpoint to checkpoint, we could see how intense the activity was due to the color of the sky. It made some beautiful photos and scenery though, so i took every chance I had, to snap photos.
Deep behind the forrest lied of one fissures violently shooting lava.
On the third day I got tasked to help the Civil Defense of Big Island to pass out flyers to residents who lived below Volcano National Park. We gave these flyers that warned them about the recent volcanic activity and what to do when Kilauea erupts. It was a long day and we went to every single house on every road in two towns. The state needed to get a census report on how many residents lived in these areas, should they be affected by the volcanic ash. Some of these houses were hidden deep in the forrest and sometimes we had to be careful incase residents came out with firearms or threatened us. There were reports that some residents shot at Civil Defense workers while they did this, which is why we were escorted by local law enforcement. Majority of the residents we met were very nice and were well informed about the situation going on. It was one of the memorable experience during my mission.
Heres our crew for the day, the man leading the operation was Bill Harris, he was in charge of the whole operations of the Civil Defense for Hawaii island.
Bill Harris (pictured in the aloha shirt by the truck) explaining the mission and palling out where to go to pass out flyers. We had a huge crew out that morning. Glad I volunteered to go on this trip with them.
This is one of the roads in the town, a lot of off roading and traveling through deep country areas.
Our first assignment during the lava mission was being part of the Roving Security Team. For the first week we got tasked as a security team and our mission was to drive around and report anything out of the ordinary; cracks in the road, fissures pooping up, suspicious people, people committing crimes, lava activity, etc. We drove around to all the checkpoints and majority of the roads in the Leilani Community.
On this day we set up a secondary landing zone at Pahoa High School. There was an incident where a man went to his house to go grab stuff and come to find out that the road to hiss house got blocked off by lava. The National Guard tried to go rescue him via airlift but were unable to do so due to the gases produced by the lava flow affecting their rescue attempt. Eventually the Fire Department was able to reduce him with one other helicopters. We were out here preparing a landing zone incase thy had to be redirected here.
On the far right you can see the smoke clouds being formed by the lava flow down by Leilani. This is the filed behind Pahoa High School, it is also one of the designated Landing Zones for this mission.
Us taking a break at the main checkpoint in Pahoa. This is the checkpoint that sees the most people and action since its the place where only local residents can go through and tourist and non residents have to turn around.
While one night over here I seen these group of children playing across the road from us. Nearby is the refuge center for victims and residents who lost their homes to the lava. They go their to get help, receive clothing and food and anything else the community gives to support them. Seeing these kids playing was a sign that their is oil hope in the community and for the families and people who were affected.
The view down Leilani avenue was quiet and most nights looked like this.
Taking one last look at Pohoiki Beach and the boat ramp.
Heres two of my friends posing for the photo, this would be our last shakas and glimpse of this beautiful place. This was the day before the lava entered the ocean in a few hours after we took this photo. You can see the smoke area int he far distance.
Another view of the boat ramp area, its such a nice place and also my first time visiting this side of Big Island.
That night we returned and the lava already made its way into the ocean, it was a spectacular view, and it was happening a few miles away from where we were.
Check Point Bravo, near Puna Geothermal Venture was the other checkpoint with action.
Check Point Bravo with My friend Varrick and enjoying our dinner. We also thought that PGV was going to explode because we had reports that lava was on the property and already during some stuff down. If it did cause PGV to explode, we would have to evacuate immediately with gas masks on a meet up at Kea'au High School. Anyone within a 5 mile radius was affected by the blast because of the deadly gases that were thought to still remain at the plant.
Checkpoint Delta on Kapoho Road. Originally this checkpoint was located at the intersection of The Issac Boat Ramp and Pohoiki Road. Due to the threat of the lava crossing the ocean and concerns of it hitting the beach park, we ended up moving it down a mile away.
Made a lot of friends out here from the Big Island Guard unit while I was on assignment, we all connected together and even still keep on contact. This is Private Tabandera, he's one of the soldiers from the Guard unit here and I also found out he's into photography. We ended up staying on the same checkpoints for a few days which allowed for us to try to take photos of whatever we could. I helped him out with a few pointers of how I do my photography and some basic 101 type of knowledge. I always love to help anyone out who's interested in photography or wants to learn more or needs some tips with making their work stand out more.
PVT Tabandera and I, were able to drive down Pohoiki Road on the Y Intersection, to see how the current lava activity was. Along this road were some houses on the right and on the left was PGV. There were two or three fissures down the road and one of them I think was the current active issue #8. Right around the bend was a 30ft high wall of slow moving lava that was being built up by the active fissures feeding lava into a moving channel. We could see the fountains shooting but not as high as the previous ones but still a sight to see. Just weeks prior to this, Tabandera told me the lava was over an intersection that used to exist beyond the lava wall and that there also power lines along that area. Now fast forward to today, this road doesn't exist and everything got covered up as soon as we were up on our annual training.
Checking out the flight line this day, to get a little bit of an understanding with the Helicopters the Guard and Marines use for their operations in the lava mission. The role of the aviation unit for the Army Guard was to rescue and evacuate those in needs and perform other tasks to help support the mission. One of the Chief Warrant Officers from Schofield was assigned with the guard to help and he was giving us information on how to approach and load people while a helicopter lands on ground. The helicopters the army used was a Black Hawk UH-60 and also a smaller recon helicopter. I got to ride fly around North Shore in a Black Hawk years ago.
Two Medics from the Hawaii Air Guard, accompanying our tour. We requested to have medics with us to better prepare us for any type of emergencies so a few of the Air Force Medics were assigned to our teams.
A Marine CH-53E Super Stallion on standby to assist with evacuating residents. These are heavy duty helicopters that can carry more than 30-40 people at a time. We also got to learn a little bit of this vehicle's characteristics and loading procedures.
Back to Check Point Delta with PVT Tabandera. We made our use of the time try to catch the night sky with he lava in the distance. I took a lot of photos of him as he was doing his shots, just to capture the full effect of the action that was going on. These photos made for some dramatic scenes.
The lava activity in Leilani became more active as the days went by, and often you'll see smoke clouds like these forming in the night.
Evacuation day. This was the first time I seen an evacuation situation happen while on duty here. Just over ten to twenty minutes ago, we kept hearing loud roaring noises down the street. We knew that there was fissures further down Leilani and that the lava flow was slowly moving up more of the roads houses. The roaring noises sounded very unusual and then out of now here its topped for a while. It kicked back up again but this time sounded way louder. Thats when the law enforcement got word to evacuate residents receding in the remaining lower parts of Leilani. There was over 8 police vehicles along with fire and ambulance and also the Army CBRN crew. We were ordered to not allow anyone through no matter what, due to the safety and concerns of the how the lava activity was. While this was going on, many residents were trying to get in and were all concerned about their homes or people they left back. Some people were understanding and some were frustrated and even got a little violent while complaining and giving reasons they need to go in. From this moment you could see how this whole lava disaster affected the residents here. Many of these people either lost homes or can't go back to where they live. You get to see the good and bad from this mission.
On the last day of our duty here, we were given the chance to see the lava unclose and personal thanks to the cops who were able to drive us out to check on the current situation and conditions of the roads and areas covered in lava. These photos show where the lava crossed over the Y intersection and near PGV. Highway 132 was completely shutdown so anyone trying to go to Kapoho area would've had to go the scenic route along Hawaiian Beaches Road. With the current update, Kapoho is completely covered with lava which also includes the surrounding beaches, the bay and whatever homes that were in the path of Fissure #8's active lava flow. Seeing this lava may not have been the red hot fast moving one, but it was still a sight to see. The last time I saw lava was Volcano National Park where the usual lava flows into the ocean.
Officer Kahele was one of the officers who took us to the lava sites, we also seen him around at the checkpoints on different nights. HE's also a funny person and pretty straight up with how he would approach people we would have to check when they stop at our checkpoints. Most of the officers we worked with were cool and some were even former National guard or military and knew some of the people we worked with.
Up Close and Personal with what Pele had left behind. Most of this lava was still hot but it was already old by the time it reached here. Just a week ago where I took that photo with the Hummvee is where that road used to exist. This is whats left of Pohoiki Road from the North Side entrance.
Down Power lines in the distance, i think they weren't active but to be safe we made sure to stay away from them.
Beyond the lava wall is where a lava lake was formed and were all the current activity from fissure #8 was spilling lava to.
The road to Kapoho and beyond lower Puna on highway 132. This is the end of the road from here, no where else to travel to. This was another wall of slow moving lava that crossed over a few days earlier. Behind there is PGV which the site is now fully inaccessible and isolated. The only way you would have to get in is by air and a helicopter.
The heat here was intense due to the wind blowing al the lava towards are direction. It was almost like walking into a bon fire or someone left the oven on full blast.
Lava slowly moving into the forrest area on the left of us and also burning some of the vegetation around.
More downed Power lines in the woods along with trees and lava. IT doesn't make a good combination but the lava will go over anything in its way and not stop.
The lava disaster was a good experience and something I won't forget. I glad I was able to volunteer for this mission and have a chance to help out the people in the community here and document everything I could from my perspective as first responder. The future of the lava is still uncertain as experts are saying there is still no end to this and no one knowns how long it will keep going. I still hope the residents and people who affected will be able to rebuild and start life again. We just have to let Pele do her thing and mother nature is reclaiming land again. If you plan on going to Big Island to see this action, you'll probably won't be able to witness it since theres no place to see it and you'll be stopped at the checkpoints.
I hope you all enjoyed reading my blog about my mission over there. It may not have been crazy as some people who initially saw it from day one or what it looks like now but definitely shows you another perspective from the military side and someone who was close to the action at some points. I may have to go back again depending on the need of more help so I'll be back to documenting again.
