People generally dont hang out that close to where the flow is active, however during the 2018 flow into Puna, there were a lot of people who got very close to it. Some wore gas masks, like the volcanologists who were taking lava samples but mostly because the fumes are noxious not because of Pele's hair.

It's a Big Island.

(The island is referred to colloquially as 'The Big Island' - it's also quite sparse)