08/20/2026
Staying safe during the outage — a few reminders for Puna ‘ohana
With so many of our neighbors in Puna, Keaʻau, Mountain View, Fern Forest, Fern Acres, Hawaiian Acres, HPP, and Volcano still without power after Lala, wanted to share a few practical reminders while we ride this out together:
Generators: Never run one inside a garage, lanai, or near open windows — carbon monoxide builds up fast and can't be smelled. Keep it at least 20 feet from the house, and let it cool before refueling.
Fridge/freezer: Keep doors closed as much as possible. A full freezer holds temp for about 48 hours, a half-full one about 24. A fridge alone is good for roughly 4 hours unopened.
Downed lines: Treat every downed line as live, no matter how it looks. Keep kids and pets well back, and report it to Hawaiian Electric's trouble line rather than moving it yourselves.
Check on your neighbors, especially kūpuna or anyone relying on medical equipment like oxygen concentrators — a lot of that gear runs on battery backup that doesn't last as long as people expect.
Phones/comms: If you've got a car, a car charger is often more reliable than trying to conserve a power bank. Text instead of call when networks are congested — it uses less bandwidth and gets through faster.
Hang in there, Puna. This is a tough one, and we're thinking of everyone dealing with damage, not just the outage. If you need anything or just want to know what off-grid backup actually looks like for a home out here, our door's always open — no pressure, just neighbors helping neighbors.
— Tim, Hawaii Solar Outfitters
