Story highlights There will be an "opportunity to stay" as long as it is safe to do so, official says

Up to 12 homes and businesses could be evacuated soon, an official says

Lava advancing on Pahoa, a community of about 950 people on Hawaii's Big Island

Kilauea Volcano lava flow started June 27 and has covered 13 miles

With a natural disaster playing out in slow motion as lava from Kilauea Volcano on Hawaii's Big Island inches towards homes and businesses in Pahoa, officials are preparing to begin evacuations.

The 2,000-degree river of molten rock is advancing on up to 12 homes and businesses, Darryl Oliviera, director of the Hawaii County Civil Defense, told reporters on Tuesday.

"The last couple of days we've been going door-to-door, working with residents in the area, preparing them for an evacuation, and it's likely tonight we will begin some of those evacuations based on the conditions we are seeing," he said.

"For the most part, the residents have been preparing for this."

The evacuations, if they occur, would be among the first to take place since the slow-moving lava flow began moving towards Pahoa in June, when a volcanic crater vented and released the river of liquid rock.

"Our goal is to work with the residents and business owners, as the lava flow goes through their area," Oliviera said. "There will be an opportunity for them to stay on site as long as it's safe to do so."

Lava chest high in some places

The dark ooze has swallowed up fences, flowed over a cemetery and neared major roads. On Tuesday morning, it set a wooden garden shed ablaze.

In some places in this community of about 950 residents, the lava is chest high.

"Everybody, including myself, is quite nervous," Rod Macland told CNN affiliate KITV-TV . "We don't know. We can't see the future. The flow does what the flow does."

By Tuesday morning, the lava was about 200 yards from the closest home and moving in a northeast direction. It was flowing 10 yards per hour, Darryl Oliveira of Hawaii County Civil Defense Agency said.

Hawaii officials haven't issued a mandatory evacuation yet. But many residents in the community have already chosen to leave on their own.

Photos: Lava crawls from Kilauea Photos: Lava crawls from Kilauea Lava crawls from Kilauea – Lava flows near a residential structure in Pahoa, Hawaii, on Monday, November 10. The lava flow from the Kilauea Volcano is advancing on the community of about 950 people on Hawaii's Big Island and claimed its first home in the town, which has been watching the slow-moving flow approach for months. Hide Caption 1 of 12 Photos: Lava crawls from Kilauea Lava crawls from Kilauea – Lava burns near the town of Pahoa on Sunday, November 9. Hide Caption 2 of 12 Photos: Lava crawls from Kilauea Lava crawls from Kilauea – Lava flows over a fence marking a property line near the town of Pahoa on Friday, October 31. Hide Caption 3 of 12 Photos: Lava crawls from Kilauea Lava crawls from Kilauea – Lava burns vegetation as it approaches a property boundary early on the morning of Tuesday, October 28. Hide Caption 4 of 12 Photos: Lava crawls from Kilauea Lava crawls from Kilauea – Pictured here on Tuesday morning, October 28, lava had crossed into two privately owned properties. Hide Caption 5 of 12 Photos: Lava crawls from Kilauea Lava crawls from Kilauea – Smoke rises near Apa'a Street and Pahoa Village Road in Pahoa, Hawaii, on Monday, October 27. Hide Caption 6 of 12 Photos: Lava crawls from Kilauea Lava crawls from Kilauea – The horizontal incandescent cracks seen in the center and right portions of the photo, taken October 25, indicate that the flow was inflating: Fed by a continuing supply of lava beneath the cooling crust, the surface slowly rises. Hide Caption 7 of 12 Photos: Lava crawls from Kilauea Lava crawls from Kilauea – Hawaiian Volcano Observatory geologists walk over the surface of the flow to track surface breakouts along a portion of the flow margin, about a kilometer (0.6 miles) up the slope from the flow front, on October 24. Hide Caption 8 of 12 Photos: Lava crawls from Kilauea Lava crawls from Kilauea – Another view of the leading tip of the flow as it moves into the open pasture on October 24. Hide Caption 9 of 12 Photos: Lava crawls from Kilauea Lava crawls from Kilauea – Pu'u O'o Crater, in the eastern rift zone of Kilauea, remains filled with thick fumes, but recent views with the naked eye and thermal camera confirm that little change has occurred in the crater over recent weeks. The fumes mask a handful of small, glowing openings on the crater floor. Hide Caption 10 of 12 Photos: Lava crawls from Kilauea Lava crawls from Kilauea – A closer view of surface activity on September 15. "A lot of smoke (is) coming off the front, a lot of cracking noises, methane explosions are going on," said Tim Orr of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). "So, it's a noisy situation out there just from all the burning vegetation." Hide Caption 11 of 12 Photos: Lava crawls from Kilauea Lava crawls from Kilauea – A view of the sinuous, channelized flow that was moving to the northeast from Kilauea on June 27. The flow threatening Pahoa has advanced about 13 miles (21 kilometers) since then. Kilauea is one of the world's most active volcanoes. Hide Caption 12 of 12

JUST WATCHED Up close as lava inches towards homes Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Up close as lava inches towards homes 01:30

JUST WATCHED Lava flow threatens Hawaii town Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Lava flow threatens Hawaii town 02:01

Photos: Recently active volcanoes Photos: Recently active volcanoes This May 8 file photo of the Bogoslof volcano in Alaska's Aleutian islands shows a crater now filled by a warm saltwater lake. The volcano erupted on Bogoslof Island on Sunday, May 28, producing an ash cloud that reached up to 45,000 feet, according to the Alaska Volcano Observatory. Hide Caption 1 of 25 Photos: Recently active volcanoes Villagers look on as Mount Sinabung volcano spews thick volcanic ash in Karo, Indonesia, on Friday, May 19. Hide Caption 2 of 25 Photos: Recently active volcanoes The Turrialba volcano spews smoke and ash in May 2016 in Cartago, Costa Rica. Experts say it is the strongest eruption from the volcano in the past six years. Hide Caption 3 of 25 Photos: Recently active volcanoes The Pavlof volcano erupts on Alaska's remote Aleutian Island archipelago in March 2016. Hide Caption 4 of 25 Photos: Recently active volcanoes The Ecuadorian volcano Tungurahua spews lava and ash in Cahuaji, about 80 miles south of Quito, in February 2016. Authorities raised the alert level from yellow to orange after the volcano increased its activity and projected a column of ash 3 miles high. Hide Caption 5 of 25 Photos: Recently active volcanoes The Soputan volcano spews lava and ash during an eruption on Indonesia's Sulawesi island in January 2016. Hide Caption 6 of 25 Photos: Recently active volcanoes The Momotombo volcano erupts just before daybreak in Leon, Nicaragua, on December 4, 2015. The volcano had been quiet for many years. Hide Caption 7 of 25 Photos: Recently active volcanoes Smoke rises over the Italian city of Taormina during an eruption of Mount Etna, one of the most active volcanoes in the world, in December 2015. Hide Caption 8 of 25 Photos: Recently active volcanoes Cotopaxi, a volcano in Ecuador, sends large gray puffs of ash into the sky on August 14, 2015. Officials declared a yellow alert , the lowest level. Hide Caption 9 of 25 Photos: Recently active volcanoes Thick ash, rock fragments and volcanic gases pour from Mount Sinabung in Indonesia. The government's natural disaster management agency raised the alert level on June 5, 2015. Hide Caption 10 of 25 Photos: Recently active volcanoes Mount Shindake spews ash on Kuchinoerabu Island in Yakushima, Japan, in May 2015. The volcano erupted shortly before 10 a.m. local time , the Japan Meteorological Agency said. Hide Caption 11 of 25 Photos: Recently active volcanoes The Wolf volcano at Isabela Island -- the largest of the Galapagos Islands west of mainland Ecuador -- erupts May 25, 2015 for the first time in 33 years. Hide Caption 12 of 25 Photos: Recently active volcanoes The Calbuco volcano erupts near Puerto Varas, Chile, in April 2015. Hide Caption 13 of 25 Photos: Recently active volcanoes Smoke rises from the Turrialba volcano in Turrialba, Costa Rica, in March 2015. Eruptions of ash and stones prompted authorities to evacuate residential areas. Hide Caption 14 of 25 Photos: Recently active volcanoes The Fuego volcano spews a cloud of ash west of Guatemala City, Guatemala, in March 2015. Hide Caption 15 of 25 Photos: Recently active volcanoes Villarrica, a Chilean volcano, began erupting in March 2015. The volcano is one of Chile's most active. Hide Caption 16 of 25 Photos: Recently active volcanoes Lava flows from the Kilauea volcano in Pahoa, Hawaii, in October 2014. The flow picked up speed, prompting emergency officials to close part of the main road through town and tell residents to be prepared to evacuate. Hide Caption 17 of 25 Photos: Recently active volcanoes Japan's Mount Sakurajima erupts in September 2014. It was the second volcano in two days to erupt in Japan. Hide Caption 18 of 25 Photos: Recently active volcanoes Dense white plumes rise high in the air as Mount Ontake erupts in central Japan in September 2014. Hide Caption 19 of 25 Photos: Recently active volcanoes Mount Slamet spews lava and gas during an eruption in Brebes, Indonesia, in September 2014. Hide Caption 20 of 25 Photos: Recently active volcanoes Fountains of lava spurt from a fissure in the ground on the north side of the Bardarbunga volcano in Iceland in September 2014. Hide Caption 21 of 25 Photos: Recently active volcanoes Mount Tavurvur erupts in Papua New Guinea in August 2014, forcing local communities to evacuate. Hide Caption 22 of 25 Photos: Recently active volcanoes The Karymsky volcano erupts in Kamchatka, Russia, in January 2013. Hide Caption 23 of 25 Photos: Recently active volcanoes The Copahue volcano emits smoke and ash above Caviahue, in Argentina's Neuquen province, in December 2012. Hide Caption 24 of 25 Photos: Recently active volcanoes Western Mexico's Colima volcano emits lava in October 2004. The Global Volcanism Program reported "a bright thermal anomaly" as well as gas emission in November 2013. Hide Caption 25 of 25

"Most people have vacated," Hawaii County Civil Defense worker Francesca Martin-Howe told CNN affiliate KHON-TV . "They have moved out of their homes. There's only a few people left."

Alii Hauanio has started packing his things, including his parents' memorabilia, CNN affiliate KHNL reported. His mom and dad lost their dream Kalapana beach home to lava flow in 1991, and Hauanio never thought he'd see his home meet the same fate, he told the station.

He hopes to watch the lava pass through, if it does.

"To see it, in actuality, I think it might bring closure to know that it's done and turn that page, and we're starting another chapter," Hauanio told KHNL.

Oliveira said authorities weren't going to try to divert the flow.

"No matter how you would turn it, you would direct it toward someone's property," he said.

There are about 40 to 50 homes in the first group of residences that are being threatened.

Taking precautions

The lava flow is expected to displace 900 schoolchildren in the area. Residents who don't expect their homes to be destroyed worry about being cut off.

"A lot of us are loading up on gas, getting generators in case the energy goes out," Mike Hale told CNN. "And we're checking to make sure the Internet stays up."

The Hawaii County Civil Defense Agency has rebuilt two gravel roads to give residents escape routes from the lava flow. Power company crews are installing 70-foot-tall poles with heat resistant protection to raise cables higher off the roads.

Kristen Okinaka, a spokeswoman for the Hawaii Electric Light Company, said there were no outages due to the lava flow.

"If for some reason someone can't get to our clinic, we will be there with the mobile unit," said Harold Wallace, CEO of Bay Clinic. "There's going to be people who need prescriptions and more."

Smoke a problem

The smoke is a problem for residents, especially those with respiratory conditions.

"It's burning through thick brush, fern," Tim Orr, a U.S. Geological Survey geologist, told CNN affiliate KHNL-TV. "A lot of smoke (is) coming off the front, a lot of cracking noises, methane explosions are going on. So it's a noisy situation out there just from all the burning vegetation."

Some evacuated homes are being targeted by looters, a business owner said.

"Crime is starting to pick up because a lot of people abandoned their houses. Two of my brother-in-laws' houses got ripped off," said Matt Purvis, owner of the Tin Shack Bakery, on Monday.

But the Hawaii County Civil Defense Agency said it has received no reports of looting at evacuated houses or businesses.

'Not going to happen'

Billy Kenoi, the Big Island mayor, said residents must work together.

"As it gets closer, the key is communication with the community, keeping people informed and everybody continue to work around the clock really hard just to minimize as much as possible the impact on the people of Pahoa," he told KHNL.

But many residents are rolling with the punches.

The lava flow is not exactly a surprise, since it started June 27 and has advanced about 13 miles since then. Kilauea is one of the world's most active volcanoes.

"I think it's going to be a little intense at first, a little crazy," resident Geri Tolchin told KITV. "I think people will adjust. Everybody knows what's happening."

Macland said people must plan to rebuild.

"Everybody would wish this lava flow to stop," he told KITV, "but it's not going to happen,"