Steve Gebbie has to wear a face mask every time he comes close to his home on Hawaii's Big Island.

When the Kilauea volcano erupted on May 3, Gebbie and hundreds of people were forced from their homes in the Leilani Estates subdivision. His home is still standing today but it's surrounded by toxic gas.
"It's hard to believe that it's happened in our neighborhood," Gebbie says. "And everyday has gotten worst."

Steve Gebbie has come near his home almost daily since he evacuated his Leilani Estates.
Residents have been periodically allowed back to their homes to check on them.
Fissures, or cracks in the ground, are opening wider and wider by the day. The lush green jungle has turned into yellow and rotten vegetation. Sections of streets that disappeared under the lava two weeks ago now look like a river of black molten rock.

During the day, residents can hear a thick layer of lava crunching through the street as they walk through this neighborhood near the Big Island's eastern edge. At nighttime, they can see the molten rock glowing from afar.

The toxic gas continues spewing from the fissures.

Gebbie, 56, says the windows and doors of his home have turned orange due to the gas. He knows he will likely never be able to live there again.
"We can't give up," said Gebbie, who's lived in Leilani Estates for 12 years.
"This is paradise," he added.

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