HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – Maui firefighters are responding to a brush fire near Kahili golf course on Saturday, according to the Maui Fire Department.

Officials say the fire is in the brush between Maui Tropical Plantation and the golf courses.

MFD says as of just before 2 p.m., crews are making progress on containing the fire, and progression has stopped.

Maui County Officials notified the public via their Maui County Facebook page around 12:45 p.m.

Maui Fire officials say that multiple MFD units are on the scene.

MFD asks the public to avoid the area.

Road closures remain in effect.

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Disturbing footage has emerged days after a Hawaiian woman went missing from Los Angeles while on her way to New York City. 

Hannah Kobayashi, 30, flew from her home in Maui on November 8 and was meant to arrive in New York City the next day. 

But her family believes she vanished into thin air at Los Angeles International Airport and never boarded her connecting flight.

In a short clip obtained by HawaiiNewsNow, the young traveler was captured by a security camera disembarking the plane. 

In a separate YouTube video outside of an event in Los Angeles, Hannah can be seen wearing the same clothing that same day.  

Her family has also revealed that Hannah’s ex-boyfriend was also traveling on the same flight from Maui to LAX. 

But the duo did not sit together or speak on the flight after the former pair bought tickets before they broke up. 

Her father, Ryan Kobayashi, told the outlet that her former partner had boarded the connecting flight and reached New York.

Parts of the video also show Hannah outside of an event in Los Angeles

He also assured that the her ex-boyfriend has been extremely responsive and cooperative with the investigation.

‘A lot of worrying, a lot of confusion. Everything is just a blur it seems because I haven’t slept well since I’ve heard the news, and I really don’t know … it’s just really concerning. 

‘We’re just trying to get us as much information as we can,’ he said.  

While mother Brandi Yee and sister Sydni Kobayashi think Hannah left the airport and attended an event based on a series of texts suggesting she ‘had a spiritual awakening and was heading back to the airport’, a friend believes otherwise. 

The anonymous concerned companion said she received strange texts from Kobayashi’s phone – indicating that she may be in trouble. 

‘I got tricked pretty much into giving away all my funds. For someone I thought I loved,’ the messages read.

The family also noted that the young artist’s phone has been off since November 11 and her last pinned location was at the Los Angeles Airport. 

‘She heard from Hannah. She was at LAX, and she said that she was scared,’ Yee said. 

Hannah Kobayashi, 30, flew from her home in Maui on November 8 and was meant to arrive in New York City the next day

Her father, Ryan Kobayashi, said: ‘A lot of worrying, a lot of confusion. Everything is just a blur it seems because I haven’t slept well since I’ve heard the news, and I really don’t know … it’s just really concerning’

Brandi Yee, and sister Sydni Kobayashi think Hannah left the airport and attended an event based on a series of texts suggesting she ‘had a spiritual awakening and was heading back to the airport’ 

The concerned companion said she received strange texts from Kobayashi’s phone – indicating that she may be in trouble

 Both mother and daughter also believe that the messages ‘did not sound like her’ and wonder if it was Hannah who sent them

Sydni further added: ‘She texted her that she was scared and that she couldn’t come back home or something. It was just really weird texts.’

Both Hannah’s mother and sister also believe that the messages ‘did not sound like her’ and wonder if it was Hannah who sent them. 

Yee remarked, ‘Yeah, we share location’ to which Sydni added: ‘And we know her phone’s off because it goes straight to voicemail. 

‘We’ve been trying to call and call and call, text. 

‘None of the texts are getting delivered. We can’t locate her phone.’

The family has filed a missing person’s report with the Los Angeles Police Department and requested anyone with information to come forward.

The family also noted that the young artist’s phone has been off since November 11 and her last pinned location was at the Los Angeles Airport

‘Please help her, if you can. If you know where she’s at, or you have the chance to just help her, please. We just want to bring her home,’ the mother said

‘We did everything that we could do. And they told us that it would be, it would have to take 48 hours before they could do anything, because she’s not elderly, she’s not mentally off. She’s not under age. 

‘I woke up last night crying and I just like, this like the sister, mother, anyone’s worst nightmare of losing your child. 

‘Please help her, if you can. If you know where she’s at, or you have the chance to just help her, please. We just want to bring her home,’ the mother revealed.

Father Ryan also added: ‘There’s a lot of people looking for you Hannah. So, if you get this, if you see anything, just go to the police, go to anybody. 

‘There’s a lot of people out there that care and love you, Hannah. If you can just get to somebody, whatever you can do, just let us know that you’re OK’

Native Hawaiian oral traditions record a rich history of the changing volcanic landscape in Hawai‘i. Interweaving cultural knowledge with scientific disciplines can provide a more complete understanding of past events, including the largest known lava flow eruption of Kilauea.

During the 1970s, Robin Holcomb conducted his doctoral field work and research on Kilauea while working at the USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory. His work included mapping a series of lava flows (now called a flow field) that began erupting in the early-1400s from a vent near the eastern end of what is now Kilauea Iki crater, in the summit region of Kilauea volcano. Now, we know that the flow field was active for about 60 years and traveled in a northeast direction (as well as a small south branch), covering most of the Puna District north of the East Rift Zone of Kilauea. Holcomb referred to this flow field as “Aila‘au” after a reference he found in William D. Westervelt’s “Hawaiian Legends of Volcanoes,” published in 1916.

In ‘Olelo Hawai‘i (the Native Hawaiian language), ‘Aila‘au is to “consume trees.” Trees can be consumed by rot, or can topple during windstorms, lightning strikes, floods, and lava flows. ‘Aila‘au is also thought, by some, to have been an elemental force associated with volcanic activity prior to the arrival of Pelehonuamea (Pele of the reddish earth) in the Hawaiian Islands.

Holcomb noted that his choice of ‘Aila‘au as a name was provisional given that he only found it in one reference, and he was under a publication deadline. Hawaiian language sources during the last 40 years have rapidly become more available. Recently, researchers have been reminded of “Kualoloa,” a chant that accurately describes the emplacement of the flow field that Holcomb named ‘Ail‘au.

The chant “Kua loloa,” published in 1915 by Nathaniel Emerson in “Pele and Hiiaka, A Myth From Hawaii,” describes an eruption that began in the upland (ma uka) portions of the ahupua‘a (Native Hawaiian land division) of Keaʻau. The chant describes a broad geographic area affected by the eruption. The forests of Pana‘ewa and ‘Ola‘a were destroyed, with “a blanket of smoke” covering Puna all the way to ‘Apua.

Much of the District was devastated, according to the chant, which documents Pele destroying forests belonging to her sister, Hi‘iaka, as a result of a serious misunderstanding between them. Examining familiar place names in the chant, compared to the geographic extent of the flow field mapped by Holcomb, suggests that the chant chronicles the lava flows that he had named ‘Aila‘au. However, there is no mention of ‘Aila‘au in the Kualoloa chant.

The upland border of Kea‘au ahupua‘a, where the Kualoloa chant notes the eruption began, is near the eastern end of Kilauea Iki, where the mapped vent of the lava flows is located. The chant describes Pele moving northeast into Puna, through ‘Ola‘a and Pana‘ewa, following the mapped lava flow paths. A relatively small flow moved southward from the vent to ‘Apua, just as the chant implies.

A modern understanding of the timing of this eruption and its geographic extent, as well as more detailed knowledge of Native Hawaiian traditional place names, allows us to correlate the 15th-century eruption to the Kualoloa chant. This is an example illustrating the complex relationship between Native Hawaiian oral traditions and specific volcanic events and lava flows as documented in the geologic record.

Native Hawaiian oral traditions and scientific papers have different intended audiences and use their own vocabularies. Events described in chants are not “time-stamped,” but careful study of them, together with knowledge of place names, and clues from scientific evidence of natural phenomena, sometimes allow us to construct correlations between seemingly disparate sources of knowledge. What Holcomb had provisionally referred to as the ‘Ail‘au flow field, we now know should be labeled in future publications the Kualoloa flow field.

Volcano
activity updates

Kilauea is not erupting. Its USGS Volcano Alert level is ADVISORY.

Over the past week, earthquake rates beneath Kilauea summit and upper-to-middle East Rift Zone were half that of the previous week. About 15 earthquakes were located beneath the summit, and about 30 were located in the upper-to-middle East Rift Zone. Ground deformation rates continue to show slow inflation at the summit and near the September 15-20 middle East Rift Zone eruption site. Future intrusive episodes and eruptions could occur with continued magma supply.

Mauna Loa is not erupting. Its USGS Volcano Alert Level is at NORMAL.

One earthquake was reported felt in the Hawaiian Islands during the past week: a M3.1 earthquake 14 km (8 mi) S of Fern Forest at 6 km (4 mi) depth on Nov. 13 at 2:22 a.m. HST.

HVO continues to closely monitor Kilauea and Mauna Loa.

Please visit HVO’s website for past Volcano Watch articles, Kilauea and Mauna Loa updates, volcano photos, maps, recent earthquake information, and more. Email questions to askHVO@usgs.gov.

Volcano Watch is a weekly article and activity update written by U.S. Geological Survey Hawaiian Volcano Observatory scientists and affiliates.