Police and firefighters yesterday defended their response to two separate accidents over the weekend that turned portions of H-1 Freeway into a parking lot for a combined 16 hours.

The first involved a fuel spill on Saturday of about 2,500 gallons of gasoline that closed portions of the freeway near 'Ewa for 10 hours. The second followed the death of a motorcyclist east of the 7th Avenue on-ramp on Sunday that kept lanes closed for six hours.

The motorcycle accident, which involved a rider traveling faster than 100 mph with a group of other cyclists, required a lengthy investigation, police said.

"The reason why the road was closed so long was the sheer size of the scene," police Maj. Frank Fujii said. "The scene was massive. Debris was spread over the entire roadway and we needed three hours to map the scene of each piece of evidence exactly where it was found."

Similarly, with the gasoline spill, officials didn't want to take any chances.

"It's about safety," said fire Capt. Terry Seelig. "The steps we took were all designed to ensure the safety of the public and the responders. It was a dangerous situation having gasoline spilling on the shoulder of the freeway."

The motorcyclist, who was identified only as a 35-year-old man, was riding a 2008 Suzuki west-bound near the 7th Avenue overpass. The motorcyclist hit a guardrail. A white Honda Civic driven by a 54-year-old woman struck the motorcycle, which landed near the Kapi'olani Boulevard off-ramp. The debris covered all four lanes of the westbound freeway and stretched for more than half a mile, police said.

The fatality was the 13th of the year, and the fifth involving a motorcycle, Fujii said.

Police closed the west-bound freeway from 'Ainakoa, the start of H-1, to the Old Wai'alae Road, Fujii said. At 'Ainakoa, three lanes of Kalaniana'ole Highway merge into one.

One lane of the H-1 was reopened three hours after the 4:30 p.m. accident and all the lanes were reopened by 10:30 p.m.

The last time a freeway closed for any length of time was in 2006 when a military truck and excavator struck the 'Aiea overpass on the 'Ewa bound H-1 Freeway. That accident closed the freeway for more than 10 hours.

It also led to several pieces of legislation — none of which became law — that would have required expedited investigations in cases involving deaths and critical injuries. Honolulu Police Chief Boisse Correa also asked for a review of the length of time that it takes officers to investigate fatalities, Fujii said.

Much of an investigation is about logging evidence and photographing it where it comes to rest, Fujii said. In addition, officers must question witnesses.

"The biggest factor is that our roadways are restricted and limited. Our initial response is to ... assess what has happened," Fujii said. "We're looking at a scene of over one-half mile in length. Police investigate hundreds of accidents and clear them without the public complaining.

"We don't feel we were out of the norm," Fujii said. "We have a responsibility to the public to conduct a full investigation and this took longer because of the sheer size of the scene of the crash."

CLEANING UP THE SPILL

While the closure made Chad Ajimine late for his daughter's soccer banquet, he said that once he learned that there had been a fatal accident that caused traffic to back up to Hawai'i Kai, he understood.

It took him more than an hour to travel a distance that usually takes about 30 minutes, he said.

"The roads were so congested," Ajimine said. "It was frustrating because we were late for the event, but the police had to do their investigation. It's just one of those things you can't predict. There's nothing you can do about it."

During the Saturday fuel spill, the freeway was partially reopened after firefighters removed the rig and cleaned up the spilled gasoline at 1:30 p.m. Aloha Petroleum, the tanker company, brought in their own contract workers to clear soil on the shoulder that was exposed to the toxic chemical benzine, said Janice Okubo, state Department of Health spokeswoman.

That work took from 1:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m., she said.

Aloha Petroleum officials were unable to provide details on the cleanup.

The fuel spill occurred when the drive shaft on the tanker truck broke and punctured the forward tank, said Seelig. Firefighters worked to contain the spill, and closed the freeway until the highly flammable vapor cloud dissipated.

"We work with the Department of Health and with a release like this and with this many players that have to come to a scene like this, it takes more time," Seelig said.

"No one agency does it. And it was done without further mis-hap."