The whole street came out to see it go in" is the part that gets me. No pressure at all, just the entire neighborhood watching you handle the world's most fragile piece of glass. Hope nobody sneezed. That's a better turnout than most things get around here, honestly. Bet you were sweating more from the audience than the actual work.

What kind of aluminum are you melting? I read some alloys, especially with dirty scrap, put out way worse stuff than just smoke, like chlorine gas. I'm with @margaret375 on safety being key. A full system might be the only real fix for that, not just comfort.