Officials warn of deadly gas releases

Volcano emissions sicken first responders on Hawaii’s Big Island

PAHOA, Hawaii — Images of the eruption of the Kilauea volcano on Hawaii offer a vivid display of yellow and red lava bubbling from fissures, orange fires and white smoke, but authorities on Saturday warned of something unseen but no less dangerous: high levels of sulfur dioxide gas.

The gas is “an immediate threat to life for all who become exposed,” the Hawaii County Civil Defense Agency said in a statement.

Gaseous sulfur dioxide, which is colorless and smells like a burning match, can cause serious eye, nose and skin irritation as well as coughing, headaches and shortness of breath.

People with cardiovascular disease or respiratory ailments, such as asthma, are especially vulnerable.

“I know police, fire, who have been exposed to the gas, pretty much all of them went home sick with headaches,” Talmadge Magno, head of the Civil Defense Agency, said Friday.

Residents of the Leilani Estates and Lanipuna Gardens subdivisions were ordered to evacuate, officials said.

The Hawaii Police Department and members of the National Guard were helping to enforce road closings where gas levels were deemed unsafe.

There had been no reports of injuries or death, according to officials. New fissures were reported Saturday and several structures had been reported destroyed.