All I want to make is a simple cloud of smoke eat my volcano like a pyroclastic flow in a timed manner to make it look like a pyroclastic flow eruption.
Your only option would be to use Particle emitters for things such as smoke, sparks, etc. As far as creating lava you can do that with particle emitters or by animating parts that look like lava. Be careful though. Too many particles from the particle emitters can slow down your game significantly.