On-site filming by Otto Sieber and his film crew as they staggered down the ruined slopes of Mt. St. Helens. Combined with additional film shot before, during, and after the eruption.

Centers on the events leading up to the cataclysmic 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens in Washington, with the story beginning on the day volcanic activity started on March 20, 1980, and ending on the day of the eruption, May 18, 1980.