Hawaii officials to arrange for occupants to observe lava destroy homes

Published 9:31 am Tuesday, October 28, 2014

HONOLULU — Hawaii officials will make arrangements for those living in the path of a lava flow to watch the destruction of their homes.

That accommodation is being made to “provide for a means of closure,” Hawaii County Civil Defense Director Darryl Oliveira said Monday. “You can only imagine the frustration as well as … despair they’re going through.”

Dozens of residents have been told they might have to evacuate as lava from Kilauea heads toward their homes.

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The lava was about 100 yards from a home Monday morning, officials said.

After weeks of fitful advancement, the lava crossed Apaa Street on Sunday in Pahoa Village, considered a main town of the Big Island’s isolated and rural Puna district. It was getting dangerously close to Pahoa Village Road, which goes straight through downtown.