cnn was with clinton while he was defending hill s homes against flying chunks of molten lava. windows had already been destroyed, so had the walter catchment tank. some lava bombs even came crashing through the roof. armed with little more than a garden ho gua garden hose, he doused the house. these flaming ones are the ones that catch the ceiling on fire. reporter: the 24/7 task was difficult and even more dangerous. after almost a week, hill told clinton to leave and let the houses burn. can t do this. this is unsafe. it is time to stop. valiant effort. i m humbled by how hard you ve tried. reporter: but clinton didn t leave until the next day, and it wasn t by choice. a line-drive lava bomb broke his leg, severed an artery and nearly took his foot off. took my leg out and threw me against the wall. it was the most extreme force i felt in my life.
feet in the air, people, of course, being encouraged to stay away from areas where lava is entering the pacific ocean. by now you probably heard about a man severely injured by what is called a lava bomb. darryl clinton lucky to be alive. cnn scott mclean has the story. reporter: it is a beautiful place, a place that feels very alive. it was two decades ago that steve hill found his slice of hawaiian paradise and two weeks ago he came to grips with losing it. you left this place fully expecting not to come home to it. lost, lost, lost. reporter: hill an his wife packed up their furniture and left for the main land. he even left a shot of gin on the deck for pele, the hawaiian volcano goddess, assuming the gin and his home would be swallowed up. we left feeling heartbroken. reporter: his contractor and close friend darryl clinton had other ideas. might want to step back on this one. reporter: just one week ago,
there s nothing they can do. you can t stop the lava. right now lava from the kilauea volcano is covering a little more than three square miles of the big island. the earthquakes are ramping up as well. yesterday there were 90 earthquakes in a span of six hours. thanks to nasa, we re getting a glimpse at what it looks like from space. these were taken from the international space station. nasa has been helping hawaiian officials track the fissures and understand where that lava is headed. ahead on cnn newsroom, scott mcclane is talking to a man hit by a lava bomb as he was trying to defend his neighbor s home. you ll hear more about him. that s coming up at 10:00 a.m. eastern. that s if for us this hour. we ll see you back here at 10:00 eastern for newsroom. don t go anywhere, though. smerconish starts now.
leave until the next day, and it wasn t by choice. a lava bomb broke his leg, severed an artery, and nearly took his foot off. just took my leg out and threw me against the walls. the most extreme force i ve ever felt in my life. reporter: the extreme heat burned up the deck, the wall and almost an entire dining set. thanks to a fast-acting neighbor with a water jug, the house survived and so did darryl. hill returned to hawaii to find his homes and his friend who helped build them both badly in need of repair. when darryl is done rebuilding himself, we ll rebuild the houses. reporter: he is a journeyman. he is. he s a beautiful person. reporter: in a place where lava insurance is far too costly to be common, hill knows saying thank you isn t saying nearly enough. this place stands because darryl chose not to go home. it stands because he believed he could save it.
you can t do this, this is unsafe, it s time to stop. valiant effort, i m humbled by how hard you ve tried. reporter: but clinton didn t leave until the next day. and it wasn t by choice. the line drive lava bomb broke his leg, severed an artery and nearly took his foot off. it threw me against the wall, the most extreme force i ve felt in my life. reporter: the extreme heat burned up the deck, the wall, and almost an entire dining set. thanks to an a fast acting neighbor with a water jug, the house survived and so did darryl. blessed, with neighbors like that. reporter: hill returned to hawaii to find his home and friend who built them badly in need of repair. what darryl is done rebuilding himself, he ll rebuild the journeyman? he s a beautiful person. reporter: hill knows that saying thank you isn t saying nearly enough.