Towering lava fountains of Hawaii's Kilauea volcano trigger park and highway closures

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Hawaii's Kilauea volcano is shooting lava fountains up to 1,000 feet, and falling ash and volcanic fragments are forcing impermanent closures connected the Big Island

ByJENNIFER SINCO KELLEHER Associated Press

HONOLULU -- The latest lava fountaining occurrence of an erupting Hawaii volcano reached 1,000 feet (300 meters) precocious Tuesday, prompting impermanent closures astatine a nationalist parkland and portion of an important road due to the fact that of falling glassy volcanic fragments, including ash.

Kilauea, connected Hawaii's Big Island, has been dazzling residents and visitors for much than twelvemonth with an on-and-off eruption that periodically sends fountains of lava soaring into the sky.

The fountaining that began Tuesday greeting marked the eruption's 43rd occurrence since it began successful December 2024. A livestream showed 2 fountains of bright-red lava and smoke. It's unclear however agelong the fountaining volition last. Some episodes person lasted a fewer days and others a fewer hours.

Like different times, the molten stone was confined wrong Kilauea's acme crater wrong Hawaii Volcanoes National Park and hasn’t threatened homes oregon buildings.

But the lava fountains were creating occupation for neighboring communities and a road wherever the volcanic fragments and ash, known arsenic tephra, was falling. The tephra prompted impermanent closures astatine the nationalist parkland astir the acme and a partial closure of Highway 11, an important way astir the island, connected either broadside of the park.

Hawaii County officials besides opened a structure astatine a territory gymnasium for residents and tourists impacted by the roadworthy closure oregon falling tephra. There were nary radical utilizing the structure soon aft it opened, said Tom Callis, a region spokesperson.

The National Weather Service issued an ashfall warning.

Volcanic tephra tin irritate eyes, tegument and the respiratory system, according to region officials. Tephra besides tin clog and origin different problems with h2o catchment postulation systems, which are communal successful immoderate parts of the Big Island, officials said.

Ash fell truthful heavy during a erstwhile fountaining occurrence that immoderate communities needed assistance from region civilian defence workers to cleanable up ash that coated their homes, Callis said.

Kilauea is 1 of the world’s astir progressive volcanoes.