UPDATE: The Hawaii Police Department reports as of 6:37 a.m. today that Kilauea Avenue in Hilo between Mohouli and Hoku streets is now open in both directions.
A portion of Kilauea Avenue, a busy crosstown thoroughfare in Hilo, remained closed Sunday after a massive banyan tree near the corner of Aupuni Street uprooted, toppled and crashed Saturday afternoon.
Police, county Public Works employees and personnel for both Hawaiian Electric Co. and Hawaiian Telcom continued working Sunday to clear the road and replace downed utility poles and lines.
No deaths or injuries were reported.
According to the Hawaii Fire Department, seven units and 24 personnel responded Saturday to the 3:42 p.m. alarm. The first unit arrived on-scene four minutes later.
“Multiple utility poles and power lines were down on roadway as a result of fallen tree,” Capt. Tyler Nishimura wrote in an HFD statement. “Surrounding area was searched and evacuated. Calvary Chapel, which sustained damage from tree, was searched and cleared. Bystander videos of tree falling was reviewed to account for pedestrians or other vehicles under the tree. HFD drone used to obtain an aerial survey of incident.”
A drone photo of the scene shows the tree uprooted and blocking all lanes of Kilauea Avenue in both directions and a occupying a portion of Calvary Chapel Hilo’s parking lot. The church’s parking lot — when services aren’t occurring — is a popular spot for people to fish, feed ducks and geese, or just relax and enjoy the view of Wailoa Pond.
According to HFD, a car was found beneath limbs of the tree, but its occupants managed to exit the vehicle prior to the arrival of first responders.
Calvary Chapel canceled its Sunday morning worship service.
“We don’t know what the damage is, or if the church building itself is damaged. But we do know that we cannot get into the building at this point …,” the church said on its Facebook page. “Praise God that it sounds like no one was hurt.
“… Until further notice all on-site church activities are on hold while we work to get us back into our building ASAP. In the meantime, we will continue gathering together. Service times and locations will be updated on our website and here on our social media accounts.
“Please continue to pray for those working to get power restored and the tree cleared, and that we’ll be back in our building soon.”
Kilauea’s closure was between Mohouli and Pauahi streets, affecting area businesses. Rhonda Nichols, owner of the Hilo Burger Joint on Kilauea, remained closed on Sunday — usually a busy day for the restaurant, bar and music venue.
“Linemen and tree services worked hard through the night,” Nichols wrote on Facebook. “Many poles have already been replaced. They expect work to be done late in the night and road (to) open tomorrow. We are so grateful no one was injured by the tree or the power lines when they went down. It’s kind of amazing.
“We never lost our power so the restaurant is all good and everyone gets the day off. Thank you to my staff who handled the crisis very well and kept our customers safe inside with us until they could move their cars and go home. There was a lot of confusion and mixed messages but you all did a great job addressing the issues and making preparations in case they had to turn off the power.
“Will update if we are able to open (today).”
Email John Burnett at jburnett@hawaiitribune-herald.com.
