HONOLULU (AP) – After months of slowly making its way toward communities in a rural part of Hawaii’s Big Island, it took an oozing stream of lava just 45 minutes to burn down an empty house.
Firefighters standing by to tackle any spreading wildfires let the flames consume the 1,100-square-foot structure Monday afternoon as a relative of the homeowner watched and recorded video of the destruction with an iPhone.
It was the first house burned down by a lava flow from Kilauea volcano that scientists have been warning the public about since August. And it likely won’t be the last.
The home’s nearest neighbor is about a half-mile away, Hawaii County Civil Defense Director Darryl Oliveira said. A garage and barn structure near the destroyed home could also burn down soon, he said.
The lava emerged from a vent in June and entered Pahoa Oct. 26, when it crossed a country road at the edge of town. Since then, it has smothered part of a cemetery and burned down a garden shed. It also burned tires, some metal materials and mostly vegetation in its path.