Lava creeps toward homes in Hawaii

Lava from Kilauea volcano was roughly 70 yards from the nearest house on Tuesday, but the big question on the Big Island was when the inevitable will happen.

Officials have placed the area on an evacuation advisory, meaning residents could be asked to leave at a moment’s notice to avoid the oncoming lava, the county Civil Defense Agency announced.

Pahoa Village Road between Apa’a Street and the Post Office Road remained closed Tuesday morning and access was limited to area residents. In addition, civil defense and public safety personnel announced that they will operate around the clock to observe the flow activity.

The dark and flaming ooze has moved through the countryside in what seems to be an inexorable creep.

“Everybody, including myself, is quite nervous,” Rod Macland told KITV-TV. “We don’t know. We can’t see the future. The flow does what the flow does.”

Hawaii County Civil Defense Director Darryl Oliveira said the lava has already crossed the outskirts of town and was expected to reach the first houses as soon as Tuesday.

The lava event began at the end of June and has moved in fits and starts in the last four months. Kilauea has been erupting for 31 years but the current fracture, or vent, threatens more than 950 people living in the area about 20 miles southwest of Hilo.