Thirty years after the stream of lava that had crossed Piton Sainte-Rose, once more the Piton de la Fournaise makes a spectacle of itself. On Friday, 30th March it awoke for a few hours only, but on the next Monday morning, it started to belch again. The second phase of the second eruption of the year started at 600m high in the Grand Brûlé, near the Tremblet rampart. The constant flow supplied the streams generously. No doubt that the route nationale that links Saint-Philippe and Sainte-Rose would be cut off by the lava. Indeed, this happened around 3 pm. Informed by word of mouth and by messages broadcasted on the radio, the crowd flocked and without hesitating, walked several kilometres in order to reach the roadblock. A four metre high wall of lava rised on the road. At 10 pm, when the lava reached the sea, a huge and bright red cloud brought the spectacle to a fitting climax. All night long, many people would remain silent in front of such a sight. In the course of the evening the rain and the wind gave way to an oppressive heat. And the lava left a witness of the destruction it created: the smell of burnt trees.

Text and pictures: Laurène Mazier
April 2007