In this Oct. 22, 2014 photo provided by the U.S. Geological Survey, a geologist marks the coordinates of the Kilauea lava flow front with a GPS unit. A 13-mile finger of lava from Kilauea Volcano has started to again move quickly, and could hit a secondary road sometime Friday, Oct. 24, 2014. Officials on Hawaii’s Big Island won’t start evacuating people until the lava flow is within three to five days of affecting Pahoa residents. (AP Photo/U.S. Geological Survey)
A growing lava stream threatening homes on Hawaii’s Big Island is expanding as it heads toward a small rural town.
The narrow, leading edge of the lava flow is now just 250 yards from a country road, which has been closed. Crews are working on an alternate route for remote communities in the rural Puna district in case the lava crosses a major thoroughfare.
Officials say the lava advanced nearly 460 yards from Thursday morning to Friday. It sped up over the past few days but slowed again Friday morning.
No evacuations have been ordered, and residents of a home that is nearest to the flow already have left voluntarily.
The Hawaii County Civil Defense is planning to go door-to-door Saturday to find out how many people might need shelter if the eruption continues.
In this Oct. 22, 2014 photo provided by the U.S. Geological Survey, geologists walk over the surface of the flow to track surface breakouts along a portion of the flow margin, about a kilometer upslope of the flow front. A 13-mile finger of lava from Kilauea Volcano has started to again move quickly, and could hit a secondary road sometime Friday, Oct. 24, 2014. Officials on Hawaii’s Big Island won’t start evacuating people until the lava flow is within three to five days of affecting Pahoa residents. (AP Photo/U.S. Geological Survey)
