The car needed a jump-start, and its owner, Mike Hale, had no time to spare.

He had returned on Saturday to his home in the Leilani Estates neighborhood on the island of Hawaii, where eruptions from the Kilauea volcano had forced residents to flee. Mr. Hale had thought he would be able to pack up his tools, dishes and camping gear. But as he and his companions started choking on the hazardous fumes released by volcanic activity, he realized they needed to get out.

The group drove away, leaving his dead car, a banged-up 2004 Ford Mustang that he sometimes rented to tourists, parked next to his mailbox on the side of the road.

By the time Mr. Hale tried to get back the next day, both would be gone. But their fate had been captured in video footage that would spread across television news and social media.

Recorded by a videographer who travels the world to capture extreme weather events, the footage showed an insatiable mound of lava marching across the road. The lava engulfed the car and the mailbox, which Mr. Hale’s daughter had fashioned into a facsimile of R2-D2, the “Star Wars” droid.