Scorched trees and rough lava terrain at the Makaopuhi Fire site. (NPS Photo)

(BIVN) – The Makaopuhi Fire in Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park is now 70% contained, park officials say, as some closures remain in place due to efforts to suppress the wildfire. 

The National Park Service says the temporary closure of the Maunaulu parking lot and Nāpau Trail will extend through Thursday, October 10. 

The wildfire started during the most recent eruption of Kīlauea in a remote area of the middle East Rift Zone. The eruption has since ended but the fire, ignited by lava flows, still burns.

The National Park Service reported Tuesday that a team of 22 firefighters from Hawaiʻi Island and American Sāmoa was actively constructing fire lines, with support from helicopter water drops near Maunaulu. The firefighters are working to contain the blaze over hazardous, volcanic terrain. 

NPS firefighters in hardhats and yellow and green Nomex walk across fresh hardened lava in Nāpau Crater. (NPS Photo)

The fire has been associated with smoldering and incandescence intermittently visible in USGS webcam imagery overnight. 

“While the fire poses no threat to homes, it does endanger Hawaiian ecosystems and rare plants,” the National Park Service wrote, one day earlier. “The remote and rugged terrain of Kīlauea’s East Rift Zone makes fire suppression efforts challenging.”

“Mahalo for your patience and understanding,” the National Park service wrote on social media.