‘A little breathing room’ for Pahoa

The alarm bells might no longer be sounding, but few people in Puna have any illusions that they are completely out of harm’s way.

Because of the inactivity of the June 27 lava flow, scientists with the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory on Wednesday downgraded their assessment of Kilauea’s potential danger to Pahoa residents.

For about seven months, the alert level was set as a “warning” while the flow from Pu‘u ‘O‘o vent flirted with entering populated areas and crossing Highway 130.

But after slowing and stopping on several occasions, followed by a long period of inactivity at the flow’s leading edges, its threat assessment now is classified by the U.S. Geological Survey as a “watch.”

As a result, Hawaii County Civil Defense Administrator Darryl Oliveira said the county will suspend its daily overflights and lava flow updates Saturday.

Despite the new wording, however, many people living and working in Pahoa said Thursday that they remain wary — even as life in the town continues to return to something close to normal.

“I’m a little at ease now,” said Jameson Apao, an employee at Pahoa Auto Parts. He had just finished selling another of the store’s popular “Go With the Flow” T-shirts to a family.

“But, it (the lava) is coming still. We’ve just got a little breathing room. … My stuff is still in storage.”

A father of four, Apao said he and his family had packed up most of their belongings from their home in Hawaiian Beaches and locked them away in the last storage unit available in nearby Keaau when the lava appeared to be days away from crossing the highway and cutting lower Puna off from the rest of the island.

His children, who had attended Keonepoko Elementary, began attending Pahoa Elementary when their school was closed because of the approaching lava.

“It’s been kind of crazy,” he said of life living under the flow’s shadow.

Myke Metcalf, owner and operator of the store, said he can see the vent with the naked eye from right across Pahoa Village Road, and he doesn’t put much stock at all in the threat level change, which USGS says signals the fact that there is no “immediate” threat.

“They can call it anything they want,” he said. “What do they consider immediate? They live in Hilo, so it’s not immediate to them, but it’s immediate to me. … I’m not all warm and fuzzy inside.”

With the recent return of Malama Market and the gas station to Pahoa Marketplace, life is returning to normal “little by little,” said Ainaloa resident Shuna Garcia.

“But, it’s still up there,” she said of the lava. “It’s just a matter of time.”

No one probably knows that better than Tanya Lee and her family.

Lava that stopped a few feet from a berm her husband, Alfred, built to protect their home since has hardened into a heap of jagged black rock that stretches up the hillside to Pu‘u ‘O‘o, leaving Pele’s mark firmly in their backyard.

Grass has started to grow on the berm and in a few small cracks in the lava rock. Lee said they plan to leave it untouched for now in case lava returns.

“You don’t know when” it’s going to come back, she said. “Nobody thought it would come to Pahoa, but it did.”

Kapoho resident Steve Compton, who was returning to his car after making a few purchases at the newly reopened grocery store, was optimistic about the recent change of events.

“I’m happy it (the threat level) was downgraded,” he said. “It was such an odd time, with the lava doing the start-stop, start-stop. It’s nice to have things come back to normal.”

Formerly a resident of tornado-prone Oklahoma, Compton said he’s no stranger to natural disasters, so he’s been taking everything in stride the past months.

“The thing is, it (the lava) is totally unpredictable. That’s the nature of where we live,” he said.

Fire equipment operator Keola Payao agreed.

“We live on a big volcano,” he said with a laugh when asked whether he anticipated further trouble from the ongoing eruption. “We’re going to be dealing with it at one point or another.”

A resident of Ainaloa, Payao said his stress level began to rise as the lava made its way toward town, with one of its predicted paths going “right to my house.” The fact his mother and sister live down the street from him served to compound the worry.

Despite the nervousness caused by the unpredictability of the flow, Payao said he and the other firefighters kept their minds on the tasks at hand as they waited to see what would happen next.

“Workers work,” he said. “Every day, we come to work ready to work. We’ve got a really good crew here.”

Email Colin M. Stewart at cstewart@hawaiitribune-herald.com.

Email Tom Callis at tcallis@hawaiitribune-herald.com.