As a ribbon of lava continued to advance Wednesday toward Pahoa, Hawaii County Civil Defense officials were planning to meet Thursday with businesses and shop owners whose buildings may be in harm’s way.

Officials will update the status of the so-called June 27 flow and review individual response plans with Pahoa Marketplace business owners at the Pahoa Community Center, Civil Defense Administrator Darryl Oliveira said Wednesday.

"We want to keep them informed and give them adequate notice," Oliveira said.

The former breakout and now leading edge of the lava flow advanced an additional 420 yards Wednesday, leaving it 21⁄2 miles from the intersection of Pahoa Village Road and Highway 130, which is near the Pahoa Marketplace.

The new flow front, which is about 50 yards wide, is running parallel and north of the previous flow, which stalled less than 500 yards from Pahoa Village Road.

If the lava continues on its present steepest-descending path, it will threaten the Pahoa Marketplace area in a couple of weeks or so, officials estimated. Puna Community Medical Center is located there, as are businesses such as Malama Market, Pahoa Fresh Fish and Pahoa Hardware.

However, Hawaiian Volcano Observatory scientists continue to say the flow’s ultimate path is hard to predict, especially because it is approaching a gently sloping area where another relatively steep path could take the lava east toward the Hawaiian Paradise Park subdivision.

The lava could stay on its current path, go in a different direction or split up and travel on both paths, they said.

But it won’t reach that junction for another two days, if the lava continues to travel at its current pace of more than 400 yards a day, they said, and even then the terrain is relatively flat there and it may take a couple of days before the lava is able to pick up enough steam to push its way downhill.

"It will be early next week before we will definitely know which way it will go downhill," said Mike Poland, a Hawaiian Volcano Observatory geophysicist.

If the lava flow does switch tracks and heads further north, "it may affect more people and other subdivisions," Oliveira said, "and we’ll have to watch it closely."

In the meantime, Hawaii County Civil Defense is planning a pilot project at the county’s Apaa Street Transfer Station to give area students an educational experience amid the recently cooled lava. And if the project is successful, it could be opened to the public.

Oliveira said Civil Defense is working with the University of Hawaii, the volcano observatory, Hawaii Electric Light Co. and the county Public Works Department to set up four to five informational kiosks with educational displays. A visit to the transfer station would also include a walking tour of the cooled lava flow.

The program will start Monday.

"We’re working out the fine details," he said. "We’re trying to balance safety and traffic concerns."

The transfer station building was threatened by lava but escaped destruction.

In addition to the meeting with Pahoa Marketplace merchants, the county will hold a community meeting about the lava flow at 6:30 p.m. Thursday at Pahoa High School cafeteria.