Leilani Helpers - Kris & Heath

Look for the Helpers - Kris and Heath

I originally wrote and shared this story a week after the eruption started. Since then,  hundreds of homes have been destroyed, thousands of people have been displaced, and an unfathomable amount of destruction has taken place. But Kris and Heath kept helping throughout the eruption, despite both losing their homes and most of their belongings to the eruption. They kept helping their neighbors and animals in Leilani, they helped people move and evacuate, helped residents check on their houses and helped the community get critical updates during the eruption. They have worked closely with the Hawaii Tracker team to vet and gather information when we were producing the Homes Lost map to keep the community informed. 



A Dashed Hope Turns Into Life (originally written on May 11th)

The past week has been a whirlwind of emotions for Kris Burmeister and Heath Dalton. The friends both lived in the Leilani estates subdivision that was overrun with lava this past week. They were forced to evacuate their homes the night of the first eruption. While Kris’s home remains standing, Heath’s house was located where fissure #9 broke out. Heath had feared that it was lost until a friend showed him an aerial photo showing the home still intact, albeit with lava completely surrounding it.

So yesterday, Kris and Heath drove down in Leilani Estates to go see if Heath’s house was still standing on Kupono. They drove up Moku and parked before hiking, and slashing their way through brush to get to Heath’s house. When they arrived, their heart sunk as they saw that the lava had completely taken the home. The only thing left in the yard besides the family’s trampoline was a little pink pair of slippers in the yard that had just been singed by falling lava splatter.

The two left and headed deeper into the subdivision to stop at the house of a lady Kris knew needed some of her possessions picked up. As they were loading up items for the lady, a decent sized earthquake hit and they decided it was time to leave. There is only one entrance and exit to this lower portion of the subdivision.

As the men left the house and pulled out onto Leilani ave, they heard dogs barking across the road. We can’t leave them, Kris said.

So they stopped at the end of the driveway where they could hear the dogs barking and got out of the truck. The moment they hit the ground, the dogs flew down the driveway just short of Heath and Kris. Something had caught their eye, or noses. A Good Samaritan had put some wet food out at the end of the driveway. Probably out of fear, the dogs had never made it out to the road to find out about the food. They devoured the food instantly. It had already been a week since the first eruption occurred just down the street from the house.



After picking up one of the dogs and putting him in the truck, the other dog ran back into the property. So Heath and Kris followed him back into the yard to retrieve him. That’s when they saw three white, fluffy rabbits hopping around. So Kris started gathering up rabbits and putting them into a plastic bin while Heath gather up the other dog on the porch. In the photo below, the dog almost looks proud that he lured Kris and Heath back to the rabbits!

With all the animals loaded up, Kris and Heath hurried back out of the neighborhood and drove the two dogs and 3 rabbits to the Humane Society in Keaau, and shortly later were reunited with their happy owners.

Look for the helpers, were the words of Mr. Rogers so many years ago when talking to a child about what to do when a tragedy strikes.

As this painful season continues to unfold, not only should we look for the helpers, but let’s look for ways to help those helpers! Kris Burmeister and Heath Dalton have been heroic helpers who have both now lost their homes to this eruption. After daily missions for many weeks, including putting out a brushfire which threatened his house, Kris’s home was also eventually taken on May 27th/28th. 

Your support of Kris and Heath as they look to start over would be greatly appreciated. The funds raised in this campaign will be split equally between Kris and Heath. 

Aloha!
Ryan Finlay




The remains of Heath's home, taken by the lava from fissure 9. 

Kris's home was eventually taken on May 27-28