Seeing photos of the angry billowing clouds of ash hanging over Iceland reminds me of the summer of 1980, when a similar looking column sat in the sky north of Kitimat in northern Canada. The "KAT" fire burned through seven thousand acres of forest halfway between Kitimat and Terrace (hence the name) -- begun by a campfire that wasn't properly put out.
For us working there at our summer jobs, the towering plume was more in the line of entertainment, since neither Kitimat nor Terrace was in any danger. Friends of mine in the forest industry made big bucks fighting the fire. When the wind shifted, however, we were irritated by the smoke. And there was brief excitement from a small forest fire closer to town that was immediately put out by helicopters.
All this occurred the same time as Mt St Helens blew its top, sending ash northward towards Vancouver.
For us working there at our summer jobs, the towering plume was more in the line of entertainment, since neither Kitimat nor Terrace was in any danger. Friends of mine in the forest industry made big bucks fighting the fire. When the wind shifted, however, we were irritated by the smoke. And there was brief excitement from a small forest fire closer to town that was immediately put out by helicopters.
All this occurred the same time as Mt St Helens blew its top, sending ash northward towards Vancouver.
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