STORY SUMMARY>>>

Surveyors with a rockfall mitigation company examined a hillside along Haleola Street in Niu Valley Thursday after two large boulders came crashing down earlier this month within about a week of each other.

The unidentified workers with Prometheus Construction said the two boulders, one that took out a rock wall of a home on August 14 and the other which came to rest harmlessly in another home’s drainage ditch, likely came from the same boulder that has been resting on top of the hillside for decades.

Douglas Tom has lived next to the two homes that were nearly hit by the two fragments for the past five years. He says longtime residents have a nickname for the huge boulder perched at the apex of the hill.

“I just heard that it's called ‘The Killer' - killer rock.”

Prometheus Construction was hired by retired auto dealer Jimmy Pflueger, whose estate controls much of the land on the hillside. The company has done rockfall protection work in countless areas around Oahu including more recent projects at Makapuu and Moanalua Valley.

“With the two rocks falling (earlier this month) I guess they're finally acting on it cause they're afraid,” said Tom.

A phone call to Pflueger’s attorney Bill McCorriston was not returned Thursday, so it’s not known if the auto mogul plans on removing the potential threat from the rock residents call “The Killer”.

Home owners plan to air their concerns about the rockfall threat at 7 p.m. Thursday during a meeting of the Niu Valley Community Association. The gathering is scheduled to take place at the cafeteria at Niu Valley Middle School.

Andrew may be reached at apereira@khon2.com or ph. 591-4263.