I was in Spokane finishing my EMT course with a required day working in a hospital emergency room at Deaconess Hospital. We were busy with ER cases when I heard some people talking about the eruption. We finally got a break at 3 PM and I stepped outside to see what the fuss was about. It was black outside with the street lights on and ash falling through the light of the lamps. We finally were done at 11 PM and I had a morning shift at 8 AM the next day at WSU Fire Department in Pullman. We headed south out of Spokane and got as far as Rosalia before a Washington State Patrol Officer stopped us and told us that the roads were closed and to go the Rosalia High School Gym where we could sleep on the wrestling mats. We got about 4 hours of rest before light. I got up and looked out the window. It was clear and sunny and the ash had settled enough for good visibility. I woke up my buddy and we headed for Pullman on a back road to avoid the billowing dust clouds that would kick up from any passing vehicle. I made it to work on time but it was a long day.
We spent the next week using fire engines and fire hose washing the ash off the streets and roof tops of the campus. It was a hot week and Pullman ran out of beer by Wednesday.
I went there with the DOE/EG&G Aerial Measurements Group a few hours post eruption. Unbelievable devastation and a real gut check on the force of Mother Nature. The data acquired debunked the "scientific theory of Nuclear Winter"
mike r
