For current information on Kilauea, check the .
This Is What Happens When You Step On Molten Lava
As lava on Hawaii’s Big Island nears a shopping center and gas station, this video is a reminder of what not to do.
As lava on Hawaii’s Big Island (it is expected to make contact around Christmas), we’re taking this video as a reminder of what 苍辞迟听to do.
In , recorded in 2010 but only recently , a safety-indifferent soul places his foot on the leading edge of a lava flow from the island’s Kilauea volcano. Not surprisingly, his shoe briefly catches fire.
Darcy Bevens, education specialist at the , told The Huffington Post the boot ignites because the molten lava is about 2,000 degrees fahrenheit. It does not stay lit because the shoe’s material does not burn efficiently, “which is why you build a campfire with wood and not boots,” she added.
The boot is quickly removed from the lava, and the indentation left behind slowly disappears, returning that portion of the lava to its original bulbous shape and showing the viscosity of the substance. “The lava begins to form a solid outer ‘skin’ where it contacts the relatively cold air and ground,” Bevens said of this property, “but the lava skin is still flexible for awhile, until it cools further and becomes a solid crust of glassy rock.”
Kilauea has been and is considered one of the most active volcanoes in the world. The recent lava flow has been for months, displacing residents as it slowly approaches.
The owners of the at-risk gas station plan to pump out all of the remaining fuel and fill the tanks with water and firefighting foam.
After seeing the reaction a mere shoe can trigger, we’re glad they’re prepared.
