PAHOA, Hawaii » A north-side breakout of lava flowing toward Pahoa from Kilauea Volcano advanced 100 yards Friday while county officials contained two brush fires and a local business announced plans to return to Pahoa Marketplace.

The advancing flow is about 0.6 mile from Highway 130 and the Pahoa fire and police stations.

A previous flow once headed for the marketplace caused several area businesses to shut down before Christmas, but that flow has been stalled for two weeks.

HouseMart Pahoa Ace Hardware was one retailer that closed Dec. 18 due to encroaching lava. According to company Chief Operations Officer Cory Cha­gami, the store will reopen Feb. 1.

After discussions with Civil Defense, he felt it was "worth the risk" to go back to the marketplace. "We’re looking forward to servicing the Pahoa community back in the store," he said.

Kristane Gaspar, marketing manager for HouseMart, said 10 employees will return to the Pahoa location.

Meanwhile the most recent and active breakout is heading toward a path of steepest descent leading to the Pahoa police and fire stations, but according to Hawaii County Civil Defense Director Darryl Oli­veira, it’s still too early to tell what direction the lava will take.

The breakout traveled downslope at a rate of about 200 yards per day earlier this week before advancing 100 yards from Thursday to Friday, Civil Defense said.

It also caused one of two brush fires that burned hundreds of acres Thursday. Oli­veira said brush fires caused by the lava flow this week burned about 800 acres. Thursday’s fires burned until hitting firebreaks in the area and were being contained, he said.

And while Civil Defense and other Hawaii County officials continue to keep an eye on the fires and the flow front, they’re also watching breakouts along the north margin of the flow, about 1 to 1.5 miles farther upslope.

These breakouts could head toward Highway 130 in an area south of the Maku‘u Farmers Market. However, the last report from the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory on Tuesday showed that lava was about 2.1 miles from that area and "moving slowly."

Dry weather conditions continued Friday, and Civil Defense said brush fire activity related to the lava will likely continue.

Smoke and vog conditions were heavy with a southwest wind blowing the smoke in a northeast direction over the areas of lower Puna through Hilo.