100 Houses Spared as Lava Flow Stops

Lava that destroyed more than a dozen homes in this village’s largest residential area stopped and cooled Sunday, sparing nearly 100 other homes and a church where parishioners gave thanks for the reprieve.

“I didn’t think we would have Mass this Sunday,” Father Larry Burns told about 80 members of the Star of the Sea Catholic Church. “Thank God we are here again together and thank God our little church was spared.”

Accompanied by ukulele and guitar, the worshipers sang Hawaiian songs and held hands as they celebrated Mass while the lava from Kilauea Volcano cooled just over a mile to the west.

Harry Kim, Hawaii County Civil Defense administrator, decided shortly before dawn to let the worshipers through police roadblocks.

Lava Outbreaks

Lava that had been tunneling down the volcano’s side through seven miles of hardened lava began breaking out in several areas two to three miles above the Kalapana Gardens subdivision on Saturday.

The outbreaks caused lava at the flow front to stagnate, said Tom Wright, the government scientist in charge of monitoring the eruption.

Along the flow front, where oozing lava cooled into bulbous rocks, someone on Saturday placed a fifth of gin wrapped in the leaves of a ti plant along with a piece of carved koa wood.

Local folklore says Hawaii’s mercurial volcano goddess Pele can be appeased by such an offering.

But scientists remained wary. With no letup evident at higher elevations in the eruption phase that began on July 18, a new flow could endanger the community, Wright said.

28 Homes Destroyed

Since late last month, lava has destroyed 28 homes on the outskirts of this coastal village on the southeast side of Hawaii Island. Since Friday, 17 homes in the Kalapana Gardens subdivision and nearby areas have been lost, officials said. No injuries have been reported.

Civil Defense officials have evacuated most of the village. On Sunday morning, Kim advised the more than 400 evacuated residents by radio that they should plan to stay away from their homes at least one more night.

Residents will be allowed to visit their property during daylight, but sightseers will be kept out, he said.