HONOLULU — A video posted to social media Monday shows a large boulder crashing into a home in Palolo Valley, nearly hitting a woman inside.
The boulder was five feet by five feet, according to the Honolulu Fire Department. It crashed through a cinderblock wall, a door and another wall before almost hitting Caroline Sasaki, who was inside the home at the time.
The Honolulu Fire Department spokesperson Louise Kim McCoy told Spectrum News Hawaii that the agency received a 911 call about the incident on Saturday night.
After dispatching 10 personnel to the scene, HFD crews found the boulder in the second-floor bedroom of the two-story Palolo home located at 1816 Palolo Avenue, Unit E.
“It appeared the boulder was from an adjacent hillside and had gone through the property’s cinderblock wall, struck the resident’s vehicle, and went through the home’s sliding glass door, living room, and through another wall inside the home, then finally came to a rest in a bedroom,” McCoy said.
Four people, including Caroline Sasaki, were inside the home when the boulder smashed into it, but no one was injured.
HFD crews removed debris, but the boulder is still inside the home.
Spectrum News Hawaii reached out to the Department of Emergency Management for details about when and how the boulder will be removed but did not hear back as of press time.
A homeowner in the area told HFD personnel that a smaller boulder, about two feet by two feet, had recently struck a retaining wall but did not enter the property.
After the incident, the Department of Planning and Permitting sent inspectors to Unit F, which is directly above the home into which the boulder crashed. Unit F is currently excavating in order to build a new property.
The approved building permit for Unit F recommended several rock mitigation measures, including a 10-foot high rock fall barrier fence and an anchored wire mesh system to stabilize the rock slope, according to DPP. After sending inspectors to the home, the agency said the required fencing did not meet specifications in the approved building permits.
"The DPP will issue a stop-work order and notice of violation to the owner and contractor ... However, the DPP cannot conclude that the rock fall barrier fencing failing to meet the specifications caused or allowed the boulder to damage the Sasaki’s home," the agency said in a release.
In 2002, a 26-year-old woman died after a boulder crashed into her Nuuanu home.
Michelle Broder Van Dyke covers the Hawaiian Islands for Spectrum News Hawaii. Email her at michelle.brodervandyke@charter.com.