CLOSE CALL

Hawaii Residents Airlifted Out After Being Trapped by Lava

A fast-moving stream of lava reportedly cut off all exit routes for a small community near the Kilauea volcano.

About 40 homes in a subdivision near Hawaii’s Kilauea volcano were isolated by streams of lava Friday, prompting National Guard helicopters to airlift residents out. Hawaii County Civil Defense said four people were rescued, with firefighters and troops preventing anyone else from entering the area east of the Leilani Estates and Lanipuna Gardens. Authorities are reportedly working to determine whether any other residents remain in the area, where dozens of structures have already been destroyed by lava. Edwin Montoya, a resident in the community where lava blocked off all the exit routes, told the New York Post he believed at least one person was trapped on his neighbor’s land. The newly released lava came from what started as “just a little crack in the ground,” he said. “Now it’s a big crater that opened up where the small little crack in the ground was,” he said.