This episode brings viewers back to the May 18, 1980 volcanic eruption of Mount St. Helens in Skamania County, Washington – the volcano's first eruption in over a century. Erupting with a blast equivalent to 27,000 atomic bombs, everything within an eight-mile radius was obliterated or carried away. Caught in the middle of clouds of hot ash, smoke and falling rocks are the scientists studying the volcano, an elderly resident living nearby and campers who thought they were safe outside of the danger zone.