Ka`u News Briefs June 20, 2012

Large flames engulf pasture lands along Hwy 11 next to the Ann Fontes farm. Photo from Hawai`i County Fire Dept.

FIREFIGHTERS SAVED THE HOMES of Ann Fontes, and Lisa and Jimmy Dacalio and their Ka`u Coffee roadside outlet along Hwy 11 yesterday, as three fires continued to burn around Pahala. The eastern makai fire burned into the Ka`u Desert through gulches and reached the highway, shutting it down between mile markers 46 and 51 around 1 p.m., which disrupted traffic around the island. Through this morning, police escorted one lane of traffic at a time to allow cars to travel between Volcano and Pahala.

Rims and skulls burned by the fire.
Photo by Ralph Gaston

     Ash from the fires reached as far as Ocean View yesterday and air quality remained diminished this morning with heavy particulates, while SO2 from vog remained negligible. Residents and firefighters hoped for rains to clean the air and dampen flames but precipitation failed to relieve Pahala yesterday, while it poured in Ocean View and Na`alehu. A rain reached the village at 8:18 a.m. today. Ka`u Coffee Growers Cooperative President Gloria Camba said this morning that rain may help the coffee trees recover by giving them much needed moisture and washing the soot off leaves and branches.
     She reported the damage, describing Godofredo Miranda's 5.7 acre farm: One third is good and the rest was in the path of the fire. "Cherries in the burned area are cooked," Camba said.

 Makai fire below Pahala yesterday, seen from coffee farms that were spared.
Photo by Ralph Gaston

     Sixto Asuncion reported 500 trees burned, and Rosita Avenue suffered charred windbreaks and several rows of damaged coffee trees. Melchor Fernandez suffered more than 200 trees damaged. A few trees burned on the farms of Jeffrey Gascon and Efren Abellera. Camba said that about 30 of the trees on the farm that she operates with Bong Aquino suffered heat damage. Camba said the farmers have taken photographs and are working on crop insurance claims.

Sign melts along Hwy
11 near Pahala.
Photo by Ralph Gaston

     ML Macadamia trees could be seen from Hwy 11 this morning, heavily damaged by flames, which burned their trunks as the fire swept through orchards. The county Fire Department estimated that more than 4,000 acres burned through macadamia, grasslands and into the Ka`u desert, running through Pa`au`au, Keaiwa and other gulches covered in grasses and brush. Randy Cabral, Senior Vice President and Orchard Manager for ML Macadamia, said that all of the 800 acres in orchards on makai side of Hwy 11 suffered some damage. Some trees burned to the ground mostly in the lower orchards that have been out of production since the 2000 flood - orchards that ML had been working on to bring back to life.

Firefighters from around the
state help fight the fire along
Hwy 11 near Pahala.
Photo from Hawai`i
County Fire Dept.

     The ML irrigation system inside the orchards sustained severe damage as irrigation lines and pipes melted in the inferno. The wells and diesel tanks protected by firebreaks are fine, said Cabral. "Every place with grass burned," he said. Fire blazed through gulches that connected with grass that torched the firebreaks. Cabral said his crew is making sure today that any hot spots near grassy areas are put out. He said the ML crew did most of the work fighting the fires within the orchards. "They did a bang up job in containing the fire," he proclaimed.
     Cabral said ML is surveying orchards and adding up the damages. When macadamia trees die, the losses go on for years and years as it takes many years for macnut trees to mature and become productive, should they have to be replanted.

Fire burns through lands makai of
 Hwy 11 and Pahala.
Photo from Hawai`i County Fire Dept.

     Eucalyptus farm worker Kirk Derasin from Forest Solutions said that about 230 acres of Kamehameha Schools land burned but that most of the trees should recover.
     At Ka`u Hospital, the Emergency Room reopened last night after being closed since Monday when flames jumped the highway, skipped up Kamani Street and scorched the grass makai of the main building along Hwy 11. This morning, evacuated patients remained with their hospital beds inside Na`alehu Community Center, while health officials hoped for air quality to improve in Pahala so they could move patients back to Ka`u Hospital. Ka`u Hospital Administrator Merilyn Harris said she plans to reopen the Ka`u Rural Health Clinic and the hospital laboratories tomorrow. The crew is cleaning up soot and trying to improve the air quality before patients return.
    She said the air "is really smelling like a barbecue in here." A project to make windows airtight and to install air conditioning and air cleaning is expected to begin at the end of summer. Had the improvements been made before the fire, "we probably would not have evacuated," she said.

Pa`au`au gulch burned and the fire jumped Hwy 11, threatening Ka`u
 Hospital and homes. Photo by John Cross

     The county Fire Department estimated that more than 400 acres burned in eucalyptus, pasture and coffee farms in and around Pear Tree above Pahala. The Fire Department reported that the mauka fire was 80 percent contained this morning. Makai fires were 40 percent contained.
   Yesterday, police limited travel up Wood Valley Road, as smoke filled the land mauka of Pahala through Keaiwa and into the valley. Ka`u Coffee Mill on Wood Valley Road sent some employees home and others to water down its makai lands along Hwy 11.
      The U.S. government’s air quality website Airnow showed particulates in the orange level yesterday and this morning and advised that people with heart or lung disease, older adults, and children should reduce prolonged or heavy exertion. Ironically, the SO2 level, which is the usual air quality concern in Pahala, was very low.
     Firefighters traveled from county and volunteer units around the state as well as Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park. Heavy equipment operators and farmers helped in building firebreaks and watering down dry lands as the fires approached buildings, farms and ranched.

Gov. Abercrombie signs a bill that could help Hawai`i fight against pests
and diseases that impact bee populations around the state.
Photo from Gov. Abercrombie's Flickr account

JUNE 18 MARKED THE BEGINNING OF HAWAI`I POLLINATION WEEK, as proclaimed by Gov. Neil Abercrombie yesterday. The proclamation is part of an effort to raise awareness of a threat within the state’s agricultural economy. The governor also signed into law a measure that could aid Hawai`i’s fight against pests and diseases that impact the state’s bee populations.
     The bill, HB 2100, releases $30,000 to the University of Hawai`i system for beehive research in collaboration with  Hawai`i Department of Agriculture. The bill focuses attentions on four islands: Hawai`i, Maui, O`ahu and Kaua`i. Throughout the state, there has reportedly been significant hive loss attributed to the varroa mite, small hive beetle and other diseases. As bees are necessary to pollinate many crops, loss of beehives threatens the agricultural economy on all islands.

State funding aims at helping bees to recover
from pest and disease.
Photo from Big Island Video News

     UH Hilo will participate in the research, using its 110-acre Panaewa farm to develop more efficient methods for controlling the small hive beetle, which is a major pest of honey beehives on Hawai`i Island.
     “Bees are particularly important as pollinators for our macadamia nut and coffee industries; bee-pollinated crops contribute about $106 million to our local economy,” Abercrombie said. “The University of Hawai`i is leading research to protect many of Hawai`i’s own native pollinators, including seven species of yellow-faced bees that are candidates for the endangered species list.”
     Abercrombie added that, “by marking Hawai`i Pollinator Week in conjunction with National Pollinator Week, our state is helping to create a positive ‘buzz’ around bees and promote bee health as a vital component to healthy food systems and natural ecosystems.”
     UH Hilo has been offering an introductory course on beekeeping for more than 20 years, and now also offers an advanced beekeeping course that allows students to build upon their acquired skills with independent projects that include research and creative activities.

CATCH LIMITS FOR BIGEYE TUNA AND HAWAI`I BOTTOMFISH and authorized take of leatherback and loggerhead sea turtles will be discussed through tomorrow in Honolulu at the Western Pacific Fishery Management Council office. The Scientific and Statistical Committee that advises the Council will also discuss the management of other federally managed fisheries in Hawai`i.
     The 2012-13 Main Hawaiian Islands Bottomfish Annual Catch Limit, for the Hawaiian Islands Deep 7 bottomfish, is expected to stay the same as the 2011-12 fishing year, at 346,000 lbs as no new information or stock assessment for this fishery has been provided.
     The US Pacific Territory Bigeye Tuna and Other Highly Migratory Species Catch Limits will also be discussed along with Congressional legislation regarding the management of Highly Migratory Species.

Loggerhead turtles could be accidentally taken in larger
numbers by fishing boats. Photo by Vance Miller

     The National Marine Fisheries Service will provide an update on a rule that, if approved, could increase the number of leatherback sea turtles from 16 to 26 and loggerhead sea turtles from 17 to 34 taken by mistake each season in the Hawai`i shallow-set longline fishery for swordfish. This would implement the Incidental Take Statement in the 2012 Biological Opinion for Hawai`i Shallow-set Longline Fishery. The Council will consider whether the proposed rule is consistent with Amendment 18 to the Pelagic Fishery Ecosystem Plan.
     The Council’s Standing Committees will review the recommendations on June 25 at the Council office. Full Council will take action June 26-28 in Honolulu and transmit their recommendations to the US Secretary of Commerce for final approval. For full agendas and more details, visit wpcouncil.org/meetings.

HAWAI`I VOLCANOES NATIONAL PARK hosts two musical events today. Kenneth Makuakane shares original songs from his latest albums, The Dash, White Bath Tub, Makuakane and other award-winning composition at 10 a.m. on the lanai of Kilauea Visitor Center. At 6:30 p.m., Aloha Festivals Hawaiian falsetto contest winner Kai Ho`opi`i shares music of his `ohana at Kilauea Visitor Center Auditorium. The events are free, and park entrance fees apply.

NATURE PHOTOGRAPHY STROLLS, led by wildlife biologist/photographer Jack Jeffrey, takes place Friday at 8 a.m. and 10 a.m. from Volcano Art Center Gallery within Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park. The hour-long easy strolls take visitors along the rim of Kilauea caldera as Jeffrey communicates the ecology and geology of the region and offers tips on how to capture it on camera. Sign-ups are on a first-come, first-served basis. The strolls are free and donations are appreciated. Park entrance fees apply. Call 967-8222 or visit volcanoartcenter.org for more.

SEE OUR SPONSORS AT PAHALAPLANTATIONCOTTAGES.COM AND KAUCOFFEEMILL.COM.

Ka`u News Briefs June 19, 2012

Pahala Volunteer Fire Department crew tackles eucalyptus trees burning near coffee lands.  Photo by Julia Neal

THREE WIND-DRIVEN fires challenged firefighters, residents and farmers in Pahala yesterday, forcing evacuation of Ka`u Hospital and cutting off the main thoroughfare around the island. Two fires burned through the floor of macadamia orchards makai of Hwy 11. Another torched stands of eucalyptus and damaged award-winning Ka`u Coffee farms in the area known as Pear Tree. More than 1,000 acres burned yesterday, according to the county Fire Department and the fires continue today.

Windblown fire rages above Pahala. Photo by Julia Neal.

      Ka`u Coffee grower Bong Aquino said he fled from his R&G Royal Ka`u Coffee farm as the flames came to the gate. The Miranda family, with three farms, fled Pear Tree as the fire, fueled by nearby eucalyptus and gulches full of brush, raged toward their orchards. Fire marched into a eucalyptus stand adjacent to Ellis and Sokha Hester’s commercial vegetable plantings above Pahala but spared their farm.
      After cleaning out Pa`au`au gulch, one fire jumped Hwy 11 and headed up the Volcano side of Kamani Street, threatening not only the hospital but four homes owned by Al and Kelly Galimba. Firefighters quickly doused the flames and sprayed white, foaming retardant along the roadside. Helicopter pilots lifted water from an inflatable reservoir set up in the parking lot of Ka`u Hospital and carried it to the mauka and makai fires to douse hot spots, as patients in the hospital relocated to Na`alehu Community Center.

Chopper 1 lifts water
from Ka`u Hospital.
Photo by Julia Neal

Firefighter sprays foam
retardant along Kamani
St. Photo by Julia Neal

      Guy Enriques’ volleyball camp evacuated the old Pahala gym as it filled with smoke, and residents shut their windows as the ash and fumes blanketed the village. 

      ML Macadamia workers and coffee and truck farmers dug firebreaks with bulldozers and other equipment around their properties and a 10,000-gallon diesel tank on the makai side of the highway in the middle of the orchard owned by ML Macadamia. Between the orchards, fires raged through Pa`au`au and nearby gulches. Fires spread through orchards makai of Hwy 11.

      Winds died down before sunset, slowing the advancing fires. Volunteer and county firefighters worked through the night to douse the flames. Gloria Camba, president of the Ka`u Coffee Growers Cooperative, donated coffee and pastries to firefighters who came from around the island and spent then night.
      Hwy 11 was re-opened first to traffic headed toward Volcano, allowing traffic to skirt through Pahala town. At 8:50 p.m. yesterday, the stretch between the two entrances to Pahala was re-opened.

Berta Miranda and coffee farmers wait below the raging fires after escaping from coffee farms at Pear Tree.
Photo by William Neal

      This morning, firefighters, ML Macadamia and Olson Trust crews. along with highway workers watched Keaiwa and Ka`ala`ala gulches, anticipating another flareup and another possible closure of Hwy 11 should the winds return.

      Ka`u Coffee growers found many farms to be less damaged than expected. Gloria Camba and Bong Aquino found that the fire had burned around their coffee trees and damaged windbreak. 

     The most affected farms, with many coffee trees unlikely to recover, are those of Godofredo Miranda, Rosita Avenue, Sixto Asuncion and Melchor Fernandez, Aquino reported.
      He also said that lands at Higashi Camp, an abandoned sugar cane community, were still smoldering. Smoke and ash blanketed the region this morning and such businesses as Ka`u Coffee Mill let their employees go home to avoid poor air quality.

Fires mauka and makai of  Pahala are visible from Henry Opukahala Chapel at Punalu`u. Photo by Geneveve Fyvie

AIR IN HOMES AND WORK PLACES can be managed for vog, according to a presentation given to County Council’s Human Services, Social Services and Public Safety Commission yesterday. Professor Bernadette Longo, of the University of Nevada at Reno, based her research on information the state collected using air monitors. Stephens Media reports her saying that different housing construction types can help prevent too much exposure to sulfur dioxide and particulates. “A modern house construction can have just 15 percent to 23 percent vog penetration inside, even with open windows, compared with a single-wall, plantation-style home, which can have 56 percent to 69 percent vog penetration.” 

      Longo’s research shows that, with prevailing trade winds, Pahala has relatively clean air from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Knowing such patterns is “really good for the community,” she said. The information can help schools and residents plan outdoor activities.
      Longo encourages government to educate residents about prevention of and symptoms of overexposure to vog. She also stressed the need for updated emergency response plans and improved shelters.

Reintroduction of `alala is part of the Ka`u Forest Reserve plan.

PUBLIC COMMENTS for Ka`u Forest Reserve Draft Environmental Assessment are due Friday. The plan calls for fencing a portion of the 61,000 acres of state forest between Na`alehu and Pahala. The fencing would be mauka of 4,000 feet. 

      The plan is to restore and maintain key watersheds and to protect native species from the negative effects of invasive animals, particularly ungulates. Once invasive threats are under control, the DLNR hopes to release the `alala, native Hawaiian crow, from captive breeding after being extinct in the wild since 2002. The plan includes public access for hunters, gatherers and hikers and stresses the importance of many native forest species for Hawaiian cultural use. The plan would be implemented over a 15-year time frame.
      Copies of the plan’s Draft EA can be read at Pahala and Na`alehu Public Libraries and online at http://hawaii.gov/dlnr/dofaw.
      Send original comments to Ron Terry at Geometrician Associates, PO Box 396, Hilo, HI 96721. Copies should be sent to Tanya Rubenstein at Department of Land and Natural Resources, Division of Forestry and Wildlife,1151 Punchbowl Street, Room 131, Honolulu, HI 96813.
      For information regarding the plan, contact Mililani Browning of DOFAW at 933-3171 or mililani.browning@gmail.com. For information regarding the Environmental Assessment, contact Ron at (808) 969-7090 or rterry@hawaii.rr.com.

Paul Kehliihoomalu points out a fountain grass plant
bearing seeds. Photo from David Benitez/NPS

HAWAI`I VOLCANOES NATIONAL PARK hosts two musical events tomorrow. Kenneth Makuakane shares original songs from his latest albums, The Dash, White Bath Tub, Makuakane and other award-winning composition at 10 a.m. on the lanai of Kilauea Visitor Center. At 6:30 p.m., Aloha Festivals Hawaiian falsetto contest winner Kai Ho`opi`i shares music of his `ohana at Kilauea Visitor Center Auditorium. The events are free, and park entrance fees apply. 

VOLUNTEERS ARE INVITED to work with Ocean View Community Association and Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park staff to remove invasive fountain grass from roadsides in Ocean View Saturday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Fountain grass (Pennisetum setaceum) is a highly flammable bunch grass native to North Africa. “This fire-promoting plant spreads quickly, and is one of the few invasive species that can colonize young lava flows that would otherwise serve as natural firebreaks, said HVNP ecologist David Benitez. “It aggressively chokes out native plants and increases fire potential in natural areas.”
      Volunteers meet at Ocean View Community Center at 9 a.m. Bring lunch, water, a hat and sunscreen. For more information, contact Benitez at 985-6085 or david_benitez@nps.gov.

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Ka`u News Briefs June 18, 2012

Pahala Volunteer Fire Department chief Ron Ebert has been hoping for the shelter for his equipment for years. The
garage is out to bid for construction. Photo by Julia Neal

KA`U VOLUNTEER FIREFIGHTERS will soon be able to enjoy new garages for their fire trucks in Pahala and Na`alehu. The county Department of Public Works posted a description of the $75,000 project was to bring in estimates from qualified contractors. The bids close on June 21, and changes in the project were announced today.
      The new Pahala Disaster Shelter & Gym also went out for bidding, which closed on June 12. The estimate for the construction budget for the facility next to Ka`u High & Pahala Elementary School is listed by the Department of Public Works as $16.5 million. The engineering, design, planning and permitting studies cost more than $1 million and were conducted by Matsunaga & Associates Architects, Inc. of Honolulu.
      Another recent public works project in Ka`u was repairing and re-roofing Pahala Community Center. That construction contract went to Certified Construction, Inc., of Honolulu, and the cost was $106,436.

Strong winds and waves are expected to create high surf and perhaps some
action at this South Point blow hole. Photo by Peter Anderson from 2007

CIVIL DEFENSE OFFICIALS are warning drivers to use extreme caution when traveling today. A gale warning is issued for seas, and high wind warnings and advisories on land are the outlook. The National Weather Service has issued a wind advisory for Pahala and South Point to Miloli`i, where winds are gusting up to 50 mph and more. Upslope on Mauna Loa and Mauna Kea for elevations above 8,000 feet, a high wind warning with gusts up to 80 mph is issued through 6 p.m. 

      These strong winds can bring down tree branches and make driving difficult, especially for high profile vehicles, the National Weather Service warns. Drivers should use extra caution on roadways.
      When a power pole snapped in two yesterday evening in North Kohala, more than 5,900 people lost power.
      The winds are being caused by a high-pressure system Northeast of the islands and should reduce to moderate strength on Tuesday and Wednesday.
      There is also a gale warning through 6 p.m. today for the Alenuihaha and Pailolo Channels along with waters south of the Big Island. A small craft advisory is in effect until 6 a.m. Tuesday for all other Hawaiian waters and channels.

Tulsi Gabbard

Mufi Hannemann

TULSI GABBARD and MUFI HANNEMANN are in a dead heat to win a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives, according to a poll by Civil Beat released this morning. The office, currently held by Rep. Mazie Hirono, who is running for the U.S. Senate seat of Dan Akaka, who is retiring, serves Ka`u, Volcano and all rural Hawai`i. 

      Civil Beat surveyed voters twice in the past two weeks and reported that Gabbard has “overcome a 45-point deficit with the former Honolulu mayor two months before the Democratic primary likely to determine Hawai`i’s new representative in Congress.” The latest poll showed Hannemann with 34 percent and Gabbard with 33 percent. Bob Marx and Esther Kia`aina were at 10 percent. Twelve percent of voters were undecided. 

      Civil Beat found the following:

Esther Kia`aina

Bob Marx

      Of those who picked jobs and the economy as their top priority, 39 percent backed Gabbard and 38 percent Hannemann;      

      Of those who said debt was the number one issue, Gabbard scored 37 percent and Hannemann 36 percent;
      Of those who identified the environment and energy as most important, Hannemann got 25 percent to Gabbard’s 24 percent. This last issue was a strong area for both Marx, with 20 percent, and Kia`aina, with 16 percent.

GAS PRICES DROPPED LAST WEEK. Statewide, retail prices fell 8.7 cents per gallon, averaging $4.36/gallon yesterday. The national average dropped to $3.53 per gallon, according to gasoline price website HawaiiGasPrices.com.

      Prices yesterday in Hawai`i were still 33.9 cents per gallon higher than the same day one year ago, but 12.7 cents per gallon lower than a month ago. The national average has decreased 17.6 cents per gallon during the last month and stands 12.6 cents per gallon lower than this day one year ago. 

Na`alehu Fourth of July parade is on June 30.
Photo by Julia Neal

      GasBuddy.com senior petroleum analyst Patrick DeHaan said that gas prices could go up “as markets feel more upbeat about the economic situation.”
      Here are the current prices for regular gasoline in Ka`u: at Ka`u Gas in Pahala, $4.60 per gallon; at Wiki-Wiki 76 in Na`alehu, $4.56 per gallon; at Ocean View Market, $4.56 per gallon; at Kahuku Country Market in Ocean View, $4.62 per gallon; and at Spirit Gas in Ocean View, $4.68 per gallon.

THERE IS STILL TIME to sign up to participate in Fourth of July parades. Na`alehu’s parade rolls down Hwy 11 on Saturday, June 30 at 11 a.m. from the Hongwanji to Na`alehu Elementary school. Community groups, local businesses, elected officials and candidates are invited to show their patriotism. Call Debra McIntosh at 929-9872.
      Volcano Village’s parade takes place Wednesday, July 4 at 9 a.m., starting at the post office and following Old Volcano Road to Wright Road, where it turns left to Cooper Center. The celebration continues with an arts and crafts fair, silent auction, live music and entertainment. Parade registration deadline is June 27. For more, see volcanocommunity.org or coopercenter.org.

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