The Hawaii National Guard recently escorted news media into some areas of the eruption in the Puna area of the Big Island, providing new up-close footage of how the eruption is changing and developing.

This first video, shot on Saturday, shows the swiftly moving lava coming from fissure 8 through Kapoho on its way to the sea. When we visited this spot a few weeks ago, there was a wall of lava and very little movement. Now it’s moving faster than anything we’ve seen from this eruption — so fast, in fact, that many people viewing it on social media thought someone had posted a time lapse or fake video. The lava seen in this video is moving at roughly 15 mph, according to the USGS.

This next view is from a new viewing location in Kapoho. It’s the first time we’ve been allowed to access this area beyond the road block on Beach Road. The two videos below were from the same location, recorded on Thursday and Friday.

This view gave us a perspective of the flow coming around Halekamahina Crater, making its way down past Green Mountain and into the ocean.

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You can see where our viewing location was on this recent map of the lava flow provided by USGS.

USGS

On Saturday we returned to Leilani Estates, and this view of fissure 8 looking down Luana Street from the Kahukai side. You can see the cinder cone that has built up around the fissure is reaching 150 feet high.

The video appears out of focus but that’s due to the rising heat from the lava flow as it erupts from the fissure. Watch closely and you’ll see Hawaii National Guard members walking toward the end of the street to monitor the air quality for our safety.