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Lava from Kilauea Volcano's 2007 Thanksgiving Eve breakout vent reached another Kalapana Gardens home this evening, sparking a fire that completely engulfed the structure.
The flow had been moving slowly but surely toward the vacated home since yesterday, coming within three feet by mid-afternoon. By 5:30, the house was ablaze.
Big Island fire officials said no other structures in the subdivision are currently threatened.
Lava from the vent continues to flow through tubes downslope to the Puhi o Kalaikini ocean entry southwest of Kalapana Gardens, with several breakouts on the coastal plain and cliffs west-northwest of the subdivision.
Hawaii County Civil Defense closed the public lava viewing area today due to volcanic hazards.
from this morning star-advertiser
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...whose home was it?
James Weatherford, Ph.D.
15-1888 Hialoa
Hawaiian Paradise Park
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It was the on the lava flow one that looked like 2 modular home sections that were never placed together:
http://hawaiianlavadaily.blogspot.com/
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The homeowner's name is Jane
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This is something I have always wondered about. Practically speaking, could you build a home way up on either concrete stilts or on a buldozed pile of fill, such that the lava would go under or around, and if that worked, what good would it do you? How long does the lava stay hot? I think the answer is that in some cases a lava tube or even a surface flow stays active for years. The best you could hope for is that the flow adds several feet of elevation to the surrounding topography but moves on after a couple of months.
When you look at it dispassionately like that it seems futile to try to build a lava proof house because if the lava has come your way then you have to assume it'll stay hot for months, and yet (not surprisingly but rather futilely) people will stand between their house and an advancing wall of lava with a garden hose as though stopping that one little tongue of lava will help.
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I saw the modular house in two sections. It looked like that one could be loaded up on a flat bed trailer and hauled out of there.
Guess that wasn't the case.
Oh...and Mark, 2000 degree lava flowing under a house would be more than enough heat to ignite anything above it no matter how high...
One Thing I can always be sure of is that things will never go as expected.
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My house can take 2000 degree heat. Don't know if it would help me though. Not sure I want to live in a fresh lava field all by myself.
Assume the best and ask questions.
Punaweb moderator
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might I rephrase that... any house not built of solid concrete.
and I hope you don't have pvc plumbing.
One Thing I can always be sure of is that things will never go as expected.
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Kimo,
That house could have been moved to a new lot within a few miles for less than $20,000(lot included). I bet a dollar it wasn't moved because Jane had fire insurance. Like hundreds of other homes in the area burned since 1990, their insurance companies won't pay a little to save a house;
Just to replace it at full insured value.
I personally know a prominent local businessman who was increasing his coverage as the lava approached his house back then. You may have gotten a satellite dish from him.
edit: BTW; The flow's not over yet. A lot of the Kalapana lava field is over fifty feet thick. A concrete house might survive, but it could be a basement.
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"could be a basement"
That's true, that's why I don't delude myself about it. But the biggest treat to a home is common fire, very, very few people chose to live by active lava flow. Houses burn down about every minute of every day. Ultimately there is nothing made by made that will not be defeated by nature.
Assume the best and ask questions.
Punaweb moderator
