Power poles in the lava’s path are being protected by thick insulating foil, with an 18-foot-high ring of cattle fencing filled with crushed rock and cinders around each pole. (Peter Serafin / For The Times)
A breakout from an inflated lobe of the lava flow near the town of Pahoa on the Big Island of Hawaii. (U.S. Geological Survey / Associated Press)
Although additional layers of lava in this ongoing flow may eventually reach higher than 18 feet, thus far these protected telephone poles are intact and utility services have not been interrupted. (Peter Serafin / For The Los Angeles Times)
Security guard George Cortez stands at a roadblock to prevent nonresidents from entering the lava-threatened community of Kaohe Homesteads in Pahoa, Hawaii. (Audrey McAvoy / Associated Press)
Surf shop co-owner Tiffany Edwards Hunt said Pahoa could become a ghost town if lava from Kilauea cut off roads connecting the village with the rest of the Big Island. (Audrey McAvoy / Associated Press)
