Hawaii County Civil Defense Administrator Darryl Oliveira said Friday officials are not considering re-opening Pahoa Village Road despite the front of the June 27 lava flow from Kilauea stalling for more than a week.
“The thermal imaging shows that it’s still very hot subsurface near the flow front, which is one of the reasons we’re watching it very closely,” Oliveira told reporters in his Friday media briefing. “… And you still see some inflation on the flow pad. … We’re still maintaining the observation and still maintaining the road closure of Pahoa Village Road. And that’s just until we’re … comfortable and confident that we won’t see any possible breakouts downslope.”
The front has been stalled about 480 feet from Pahoa Village Road since Oct. 30, but police and Hawaii National Guard members maintain roadblocks between Apaa Street and Post Office Road, with access granted to residents only.
Oliveira said any decision to open the road would be based on a determination that the hazard of the flow crossing has been eliminated. He also said Hawaii Electric Light Co. would be consulted before any decision to open the road would be made because of measures the utility has taken to protect the poles from the formerly advancing molten rock.
“If you’ve seen (the protected poles), they are fairly large and in that area they take up one lane of the roadway,” Oliveira said. “So, even if we considered re-opening the road, we would have to clear the road and re-establish two lanes of traffic.”
Upslope breakouts remain approximately 0.7 to 1.5 miles above Apaa Street along the north side of the flow and are generally moving in a north to northeast direction.
“The one breakout that’s about a mile and a half above Apaa Street, that looked like it had advanced approximately 100 yards since (Thursday),” Oliveira said. “So, it’s active up there but not very fast moving. And it’s actually pulling more in a northwest direction, which gives an appearance that it’s actually moving uphill. But it’s because of the on-site topographical features that it’s moving in that direction. So, it’s not going uphill.”
Mayor Billy Kenoi extended the state of emergency declared because of the threat of lava from Kilauea Volcano crossing Pahoa Village Road and Highway 130 to Dec. 15, county Deputy Corporation Counsel Craig Masuda said in a Friday email.
Email John Burnett at jburnett@hawaiitribune-herald.com.