A day after the lava flow claimed its first Pahoa home, the town’s waste transfer station appeared to be close to a similar fate.
The leading edge of the flow remained stalled 480 feet from Pahoa Village Road, but activity taking the form of a number of breakouts farther up slope from the front continued, with one entering the transfer station’s fenced-in complex.
The breakout that destroyed a single-story home Monday on Cemetery Road was continuing to expand parallel to Pahoa Village Road and Apaa Street/Cemetery Road, rather than advancing down the hill, according to Hawaii County Civil Defense Administrator Darryl Oliveira.
“It is moving in a north to south orientation, and is advancing slowly in that area,” he said after a flyover of the 45-acre plot. “It did cross the driveway in multiple locations, making it difficult to access the property at this time.”
A garage that at one point appeared would be impacted by lava well before the home has so far survived intact. The lava, which was reported to be on a sidewalk within 2 feet of the structure, did not appear to have moved any closer to the detached building since Monday.
“We just walked through it in the last hour and a half, and there appeared to be no advancement on the garage property,” Oliveira said Monday morning. “We do see inflation though. It’s probably about 2 feet high, and more than 4 feet tall behind the garage structure. We still see activity around the garage structure.”
Intermittent black smoke was seen coming from a fish pond, he added, which has a vinyl liner that appeared to be catching fire at times.
Meanwhile, a breakout to the west above the Pahoa Transfer Station breached the fence of the property at about 8 a.m., and a narrow finger of lava was seen encroaching upon a driveway that encircles the property.
“The finger was 2 to 3 feet wide at the most and it did drop down along the perimeter fence and the elevated berm with the fence. It (the finger) is about 12 feet long and 2 to 3 feet wide. The activity was also showing signs of inflation along the fence,” Oliveira said.
Later in the day, five or six fingers of lava were seen pouring through the wire fence and down a berm onto the property.
“It doesn’t appear to be coming into contact with any equipment there,” he said during an afternoon media briefing.
A third breakout about 0.37 miles mauka of Apaa Street/Cemetery Road continued to expand in a north-northeast direction, and had moved about 220 yards in 24 hours.
“We’re definitely watching all these breakouts,” Oliveira said.
It was unclear how the breakouts might react as their inflation and expansion continue, said Hawaiian Volcano Observatory geologist Steve Brantley. It’s possible one of the breakouts could overtake the stalled front that sits near Pahoa Village Road, but when or even if that happens remained a mystery.
And, Brantley said, the output of lava from Puu Oo vent far upslope has increased by between 10 and 20 percent. That still leaves its output below average readings for the life of the 31-year Kilauea eruption.
Signs inflation has continued were evident Tuesday on Apaa Road, with scientists measuring the lava at between 12 and 18 feet high, whereas it might have only been a foot or two deep when it first crossed the road.
There was no brushfire threat in the area because of recent rains that kept the grounds wet, with plenty of puddling, Oliveira said.
Efforts by the state Department of Transportation also are ongoing to seek methods of re-establishing roadways over hardening lava, Oliveira said.
In Tuesday morning’s media briefing, he explained that among the possible solutions being considered are plans to place stainless steel mesh or interlocking metal plates atop the lava and then covering them with an aggregate crushed rock material. The mesh or plates could provide stability, should the underlying lava be weakened.
If successful, such methods could be used to re-establish access over Pahoa Village Road and Highway 130 if they are covered by lava.
Oliveira also cautioned that he doesn’t want to create the impression this is a “guaranteed solution that will restore the highway in a matter of days.”
“The best we can share is all agencies are looking at every idea and possible solutions to maintain the access for the community,” he said. “I think that’s the strongest statement we can make.”
Civil Defense reported the lava is now surrounding two Hawaii Electric Light Co. utility poles, which were reinforced with an experimental protection the company developed shortly before the lava’s encroachment. HELCO workers recently replaced one wooden pole with a steel pole in an attempt to prevent it from being burned by the 2,100-degree lava.
Email Colin M. Stewart at cstewart@hawaiitribune-herald.com or Tom Callis at tcallis@hawaiitribune-herald.com.