Hawaiians Mark Decade of Volcanic Fireworks

One summer night in 1990, about 100 longtime residents of this small coastal town huddled on ancestral lands soon to be overrun by lava from the Kilauea volcano.

They talked about swimming in the keiki pond as children on Sunday afternoons, when the community would gather after church for picnics near an ancient Hawaiian burial ground, or heiau . They talked about raising their own children, and watching them swim in the same pond.

When it was time to leave, they cried, grateful for one last time together.

The destruction of Kalapana was the most dramatic moment since the present eruption began 10 years ago, on Jan. 3, 1983.

Those whose homes were spared remained; others rebuilt nearby. They are being joined by newcomers willing to risk investment in an area scientists say will be inundated again, either by Kilauea or the larger Mauna Loa volcano, which last erupted for three weeks in 1984.

“For many of these people, the love of the land outweighs the dangers. It’s an acceptable risk,” said Harry Kim, Hawaii County Civil Defense administrator.

There is no way of knowing when the eruption will end; it is the longest from any volcano’s rift zone, or side fissures, since 1790, according to geologist Christina Heliker of the U.S. Geological Survey’s Hawaiian Volcano Observatory. Eruptions from the volcano’s summit have lasted as long as 100 years, the last one from 1823 to 1924.

The eruption has created more than 350 acres of new land along Hawaii Island’s southeast coast, but the various flows that poured lava down the volcano’s slopes wiped out nearly 30 square miles of rain forest and desert land, said Heliker.

The flows destroyed more than 200 homes and buildings and dozens of archeological and historical sites, disrupted agriculture and decimated native plants and animal habitats. Acid rain from volcanic gases and atmospheric moisture damages forests and fresh water sources. Volcanic haze called vog causes pollution and possible respiratory problems.

“It’s so pretty when it’s happening,” said Heliker. “When you come back, everything has been destroyed.”

No one has died from the present eruption, and only one death this century can be attributed directly to the volcano, said Heliker. Two movie cameramen and a pilot had to be rescued after the helicopter they were in crashed into the side of the volcano in November.

In that same month, lava overran an ancient Hawaiian village, burial ground and black-sand beach at Kamoamoa, a coastal area five miles south of Kalapana in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park.

The latest episodes have produced some spectacular sights for the thousands of tourists who flock to the volcano every day and night. Lava cones as tall as 25 feet have formed, some spouting lava 300 feet high.

From the start, when lava broke through a series of fissures on the volcano’s east flank during a series of fountain eruptions in 1983, the volcano has showed its destructive power.

By early 1984, homes were being destroyed at Royal Gardens subdivision. Between the fall of 1986 and spring of 1989, the flows destroyed dozens of homes in Kalapana-area subdivisions and wiped out a major visitor center in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park.

By June, 1990, more than 100 homes in the picturesque village of Kalapana had been destroyed, as well as the town’s stores, historic sites and black sand beach.

One of Kalapana’s two churches, the Kalapana Mauna Kea Congregational Church, was consumed after members decided not to move it. The Star of the Sea Church, called the “Painted Church” because of its brightly colored wall murals, was moved after divisive debate to the side of Highway 130 on the edge of town. It remains there today while Roman Catholic Church officials negotiate with the state for a new site.

Those who have had their lives most disrupted seem the most willing to accept Madame Pele, the Hawaiian volcano goddess whose power is believed and respected by residents as much as any scientific explanation.

“Madame Pele takes the land, but only for a while. Someday it will be back, just as beautiful,” said Louise Galambos, 34, who lives with her husband, Robert, in the Royal Gardens subdivision, which is surrounded by lava. “We’re just fortunate that Pele has allowed us to stay in her front yard. The lava stopped one block from our home.”

To go to town, the Galamboses take a car from their home to the end of a road, where they begin a three-mile hike over hardened lava.

At the end of the first series of flows, they drive a second car one mile down Chain of Craters Road until they get to the tube system carrying the present flow. After hiking over the flow, with 2,100-degree lava five feet beneath them, they take a third car to town.

They and four other people are the only ones willing to bear the hardships of such a remote and private lifestyle.

“We don’t want to leave. We love it here. It’s so quiet,” said Robert Galambos, 29, who has lived in Royal Gardens since 1984. Louise moved in four years later after they were married. “The only inconvenience is the access. If you’re willing to live with it, no one can stop you.”