Hawaii Volcano Imperils Flora, Fauna - 3rd Crack Formed
Mitch Battors
The fissure was spewing steam, but was not oozing lava like the others did. Heat from the fissures could spark a fire, scientists said.
"There's just smoldering; there's no open flames or anything like that," Jim Gale, a spokesman for the Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, said of the most recent fissure found. "We're very fortunate because we just had a series of rains, so the area is relatively wet."
The area is home to honeycreeper birds, happy-face spiders and damselflies. There are also native trees and ferns found nowhere else in the state.
"This is a real vital part of Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. It's a vital habitat," Gale said.
Scientists also detected hazardous sulfur dioxide concentrations near Kilauea's summit, according to the U.S. Geological Survey's Hawaiian Volcanoes Observatory.