The Federal Aviation Administration has restricted flights indefinitely over lava that had moved within a mile of Apaa Street in Pahoa on Hawaii isle on Monday.
Meanwhile, Hawaii County firefighters contained a 293-acre brush fire at the front of the June 27 Kilauea lava flow, according to a county news release.
Firefighters responded just before 1 p.m. Monday to a brush fire that was moving north-northwest and had burned about 160 acres.
Working through the afternoon, firefighters tried to contain the fire to within an existing firebreak. At one point the fire jumped the break and burned about 100 yards west.
The breakout was extinguished by ground crews and aerial water drops.
The water drops were suspended at nightfall, and firefighters planned an aerial survey at first light Tuesday.
The FAA restriction was the result of "airspace congestion" of civilian planes and helicopters, said Hawaii County Civil Defense Director Darryl Oliveira.
The ban covers air traffic within a 2-mile radius of the lava flow and within 4,000 feet above ground.
During his daily flight over the lava Thursday, Oliveira saw three helicopters and one plane looking at the lava.
"These were all commercial," Oliveira said.
The flow had moved 150 yards north toward Pahoa since Sunday. On Monday it was 1.7 miles away from Pahoa Village Road and 2 miles from Highway 130, the main thoroughfare in and out of lower Puna, officials said.
Because of the erratic nature of the flow over the last few weeks, volcano scientists are no longer predicting when it could reach Pahoa and overrun Highway 130.
