Madame Pele is expected to make her debut in Pahoa early Saturday morning as the June 27 lava flow reaches Cemetery Road/Apa‘a Street.
Madame Pele is expected to make her debut in Pahoa early Saturday morning as the June 27 lava flow reaches Cemetery Road/Apa‘a Street.
The flow was advancing more than 10 yards per hour on Friday, helping it make up for lost time as it continued toward the town with renewed vigor.
Darryl Oliveira, Hawaii County Civil Defense administrator, said the flow could reach the roads — the first it has encountered — sometime after midnight. Apa‘a Street becomes Cemetery Road just after the Pahoa Transfer Station.
“Apa‘a Street is probably the first impact that brings to reality what we’re facing,” Oliveira said.
Once it reaches the roads, the flow would be roughly half a mile from Pahoa Village Road and residences downslope.
Civil Defense and Hawaiian Volcano Observatory are still refraining from estimating when occupied residences could be hit by the flow since it’s unclear if it will keep the current rate of advance.
The flow from Pu‘u ‘O‘o stretches for more than 13 miles and is becoming more stable, according to HVO.
Mike Poland, HVO geologist, said breakouts upslope have ceased and a robust lava tube system is concentrating the eruption’s energy at its front.
“Every activity on the flow field right now is at the flow front,” he said Friday. “That’s another reason why we’re seeing a rapid advance rate this evening.”
The closest residence to the flow was about 250 to 300 yards away as of Friday afternoon, Oliveira said.
The structure is on a ranch that has been evacuated.
The next closest residences would be along or near Pahoa Village Road.
Gov. Neil Abercrombie signed a request Friday for a presidential disaster declaration to provide federal reimbursement for projects related to the lava flow, including several alternate routes made in case Highway 130 is inundated.
Two alternate routes, along Railroad Avenue and Government Beach Road, are complete.
Construction of the Chain of Craters alternate route started Friday within Hawaii Volcanoes National Park.
Warren Lee, county Public Works director, said the route should be done by early December.
Oliveira said the transfer station, to be relocated to Kauhale Street near the Pahoa Community Center, will close at the top of Apa‘a Street at 6 p.m. Friday.
Pahoa Village Road was blocked temporarily Friday as the canopy for the reuse station was relocated.
Apa‘a Street will be closed to through traffic after the transfer station closes.
On Friday, the road remained busy with people trying to dump garbage or at least get a close look at the flow, which continued to burn its way through forest nearby. Media and residents not getting rid of garbage were prohibited from accessing the transfer station.
It was unclear how many people only trying to get a look at the flow were turned away from the facility.
But not everyone in town planned to try to see it for themselves.
“I’ve been to Kalapana so many times,” said Pahoa resident Jessica White, adding she wants to be respectful to those living closest to the flow. “If I’m going to evacuate, I don’t want people in my front yard.”
White, who lives with her two young children near the village center, said she planned to stay with a friend in Hawaiian Acres as soon as she needs to evacuate.
Oliveira said he will visit with residents in the flow’s path to provide them with the most recent information and assess their needs. No evacuation has been ordered.
With the flow continually changing its speed, and sometimes stalling all together, White said she has been through a range of emotions.
“It actually kind of, when it stalls, it’s relaxing and you’re not thinking about it,” White said. “A feeling of denial. And then it starts up.”
After hearing the flow was advancing more quickly, she said, “Now it feels like it’s in my backyard.”
Meanwhile Friday, Hawaii Electric Light Co. workers waited and wondered if a new system for protecting their utility poles from the advancing flow would hold up to the intense heat of the lava.
HELCO employees installed on Thursday evening three of their experimental protective structures around poles estimated to be within range of the lava flow, and were working to install a fourth on Friday morning, according to spokeswoman Kristen Okinaka.
“We’re going to have crews in the area, monitoring the lava flow with Civil Defense,” she said.
As well as a line of poles running alongside Apa‘a Street/Cemetery Road, there are two more lines of poles that could potentially be impacted as the lava flow advances, Okinaka said.
“It will just depend on what she (Pele) does. We’re just going to wait and see,” she said. “But we do have contingency plans in place depending on which way the flow goes. A lot will depend on how wide or narrow it is. It could go right between the poles.”
The heightened activity of the flow also kicked into gear plans set in place by the Hawaii County Fire Department, including manning the new temporary fire station set up near the Pahoa Community Center.
“We’ve not been waiting for the flow to cross Highway 130. We’ve always had it targeted that when the flow reaches Apa‘a or Cemetery Road, that’s when we pull the trigger to start occupying the (new temporary fire) station,” said Chief Darren Rosario.
“Yesterday’s and today’s huge advancement of the flow got us going more quickly,” he said. “So we’ll be ready to go well ahead of the impact to (Pahoa) Village Road and Highway 130.”
Some work remains to be completed, but the fire chief estimated that the station would be manned 24 hours a day by Nov. 1.
Last week, some area residents balked at the fire department’s plan to remove three monkeypod trees in order to make room for a fence to house the department’s fire fighting trucks and apparatus.
However, on Friday the chief said that he is currently looking at setting the fence further back from the parking area to preserve the trees. They will have to be pruned in order to protect the roof of the garage structure.
The fire department is keeping a close eye on the brush fire possibility, Rosario said.
Apa‘a Street resident Ila Tua said the road had been busy “all day, all night” for several weeks as people try to get closer to the flow.
The flow’s projected path would go near his home, but Tua said he wasn’t trying to stress too much about it.
“If she comes, she comes,” he said.
Email Tom Callis at tcallis@hawaiitribune-herald.com.
Email Colin M. Stewart at cstewart@hawaiitribune-herald.com.