[Video]: Hawaii Rental Operator Loses Car as Kilauea Volcano Spews Lava, Flames
Mike Hale, who runs Big Island Auto Rental, was forced to leave his personal vehicle behind Sunday, as it needed to be jumped, while fleeing from the lava and smoke that has been erupting from the volcano.
![[Video]: Hawaii Rental Operator Loses Car as Kilauea Volcano Spews Lava, Flames](https://assets.bobitstudios.com/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto,dpr_auto,c_limit,w_920/m-clipboard01-52-3_1776003026051_i8uyrz.jpg)
An owner of a car rental agency on the Island of Hawaii is the subject of a widely shared video on social media, which shows lava from the Kilauea volcano engulfing his 2004 Ford Mustang and Star Wars mailbox.
Mike Hale, who runs Big Island Auto Rental, was forced to leave his personal vehicle behind Sunday, as it needed to be jumped, while fleeing from the lava and smoke that has been erupting from the volcano. His custom-made, R2-D2 mailbox, a gift from his daughter, was also a victim to the Big Island’s recent eruptions.
Hale later told The New York Times that watching the video, which was captured by a videographer who travels around the world documenting natural disasters, gave him a sense of peace.
“I have respect for the lava and for Pele,” he told the news outlet, referring to the Hawaiian goddess of fire. “She just wanted to come onto the property. I guess it’s just kind of surrendering to nature. Seeing it, I felt like ‘O.K., you have what you have, it’s done.’”
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