HILO » Lava destroyed the homestead of Royal Gardens resident Dean Schneider on Thursday, leaving the home of Jack Thompson as the last inhabited house in the devastated hillside subdivision.

A photograph taken from a helicopter by the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory showed black, scorched ground where Schneider's pavilionlike, open-air house had stood.

On Alii Avenue in front of Schneider's house site, the remnants of a blue tarpaulin stretched taut on a metal frame that formed a carport. An aluminum ladder lay in the street. A bright red plastic trash barrel sat a bit downslope.

An hour and half later, it was all gone, the observatory said.

Schneider knew it was coming.

Schneider and Thompson were the only two residents left in the remote Kilauea Volcano community, which has been overrun by lava numerous times in recent decades.

Fingers of lava had been coming down the hill recently, as they had from time to time since eruptions began in 1983.

For 72 hours this week, he waited with a video camera.

Schneider was in no immediate danger. “;It's slow like a slug,”; he said of the lava. “;It's not like a tsunami.”;

But on Wednesday night a new finger of lava was visible downslope, threatening to cut off the route for his 4-mile hike out of the area.

He left but came back the next day. Rain was falling. At times it produced so much steam from hitting fresh lava that it created a whiteout. He had to stop and wait until the wind blew it away.

Finally he made it back to the house site. The blue tarp was still hanging on. He left, but a later helicopter report told him everything was gone.

“;Oh well,”; he said with sadness.

The good news is that his wife, who lives on the mainland, is coming to visit tomorrow. He does not want to go out to the house site with her. “;All it is, is a heartbreaker,”; he said.

But he has another lot in the mile-wide, 3-mile-long subdivision, untouched by lava. Maybe they could camp there.

Thompson is alone now, the last permanent resident of Royal Gardens, living in a house built to county standards about a mile west of Schneider's site.

Both Schneider and Thompson got in and out of the area by riding motorcycles across barely solidified lava fields.

Schneider predicts Thompson will continue. “;When it hardens, he'll be a motorcycle maniac,”; Schneider said.

Thompson still runs a bed-and-breakfast, accessible only by helicopter. His most recent guest, a few months ago, was a Russian who wanted a close view of lava.

Thompson hopes it is not too close. “;I'm hoping this side (of Royal Gardens) will stay safe,”; he said.