“If you’re wearing clothing, there’s no risk,” he said. Hawaii’s governor has warned that mass evacuations may be required as more fissures open in the ground and spew lava and gas into semi-rural residential areas on the east flank of Kilauea, one of the world’s most active volcanoes. Authorities have accelerated the timeline for moving flammable pentane from a Hawaii geothermal plant that's near communities where lava has oozed from cracks in the ground. The latest upheaval at Kilauea began last week after the crater floor of a long-active side vent collapsed suddenly in a cloud of ash, triggering a similar plunge in the molten lake inside the larger crater at the volcano’s summit. Apau Hawaii Tours/via REUTERS 
 
 However, the immediate vicinity around the summit, an area controlled by the National Park Service, was to be closed to visitors indefinitely, starting on Thursday night. The Leilani Estates community remains in greatest danger, with 15 volcanic fissures so far having destroyed 36 structures, most of them homes, and forcing the evacuation of about 2,000 residents. “There are other communities, other residential neighborhoods that could, depending on the evolution of activity, be in harm’s way.” 
 
 Hawaii Governor David Ige has requested federal disaster assistance as he said a mass evacuation of the lower Puna District, where Leilani Estates is located, would be beyond current county and state capabilities. Light winds may allow volcanic haze to become more widespread on the Big Island through Friday night, but weather forecasters said there did not appear to be enough southeast flow to carry the vog to other islands.
– The ongoing eruption of Hawaii's Kilauea volcano is creating new worries for residents—including the risk of "vog," or volcanic smog. Big Island residents have been warned that a change in the wind is expected to increase the risk of vog, which contains potentially deadly sulfur dioxide gas, Reuters reports. Gov. David Ige has warned that more mass evacuations will be needed as new cracks in the ground send lava and toxic gas into new neighborhoods near the volcano. Ige has asked President Trump to declare a disaster in the state so that federal money can be used in the event of large-scale evacuations by air and sea, the AP reports. Forecasters say Big Island residents are likely to face higher levels of sulfur dioxide Friday, which is especially dangerous for children, the elderly, and those with respiratory conditions, the Honolulu Star-Advertiser reports. Trade winds are expected to ease conditions by Saturday morning. Amid fears that the volcano, one of the world's most active, could erupt explosively, flammable pentane has been removed from a geothermal plant near two neighborhoods that had to be evacuated because of lava and gas. Kilauea is surrounded by Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, which closed Thursday night until further notice. Scientists had warned that if the volcano erupts, park visitors within a mile or so of the crater were at risk of being hit by refrigerator-sized boulders.