03-02-2008, 06:31 AM
I'll never forget the first time the Bear and I came to the Big Island in 2001. The County was charging $5 to get onto the lava road at Kalapana. They had a very bored looking young woman in a trailer collecting the money. There was a poster propped up on a folding chair with safety tips. At the end of the trail where the lava was going into the ocean they had some ropes to keep the crowd about 15 yards from the actual lava. There were four more bored County employees under a pop-up tent playing cards and smoking cigarettes. They were supposed to be monitoring the safety factor, but weren't even looking at the lava.
After we had been there a couple of hours, one of the tourists hollered, "Geez, guys, it's headed this way." A little rivulet of lave had started coming toward us. One of the guys in the pop-up came over and looked at it and then went back to the card game. After talking with the others and finishing a hand of cards, two of the four came over and said, "We need you guys to move back." Someone complained that it wasn't moving very fast and we should be allowed to photograph it, so they went back and played some more cards for about ten minutes and then moved the rope back about five yards. We had a great time and got some killer pictures.
Such was the County's safety monitoring of the eruption. Seeing as how nobody got roasted during that episode, I can only assume that their present caution is based on something other than learning the hard way back then.
Cheers,
Jerry
After we had been there a couple of hours, one of the tourists hollered, "Geez, guys, it's headed this way." A little rivulet of lave had started coming toward us. One of the guys in the pop-up came over and looked at it and then went back to the card game. After talking with the others and finishing a hand of cards, two of the four came over and said, "We need you guys to move back." Someone complained that it wasn't moving very fast and we should be allowed to photograph it, so they went back and played some more cards for about ten minutes and then moved the rope back about five yards. We had a great time and got some killer pictures.
Such was the County's safety monitoring of the eruption. Seeing as how nobody got roasted during that episode, I can only assume that their present caution is based on something other than learning the hard way back then.
Cheers,
Jerry