Madame Pele is expected to make her debut in Pahoa early today as the June 27 lava flow reaches Apaa Street.
The flow was advancing more than 10 yards per hour Friday, as it continued toward the town.
Darryl Oliveira, Hawaii County Civil Defense administrator, said Friday the flow could reach the road sometime after midnight. Apaa Street becomes Cemetery Road just after the Pahoa Transfer Station.
“Apaa 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 Puu Oo 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 ready by early December.
The transfer station is being relocated to Kauhale Street near the Pahoa Community Center. Its Apaa Street location was closed Friday evening.
Apaa Street will be closed to through traffic, according to Civil Defense.
On Friday, the road remained busy with people trying to dump garbage or get a closer 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 altogether, White said she has been through a range of emotions.
“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 withstand the intense heat of the lava.
HELCO employees installed on Thursday evening three experimental protective structures around poles estimated to be within range of the lava flow, and were working to install a fourth 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 Apaa Street and 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 (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 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 Apaa or Cemetery Road, that’s when we pull the trigger to start occupying the (new temporary fire) station,” said Chief Darren Rosario.
“(Thursday and Friday’s) huge advancement of the flow got us going more quickly. 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 monkey pod 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.
Apaa 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 and Colin M. Stewart at cstewart@hawaiitribune-herald.com.