SPOKANE, Wash. — On May 18, 1980, Mount St. Helens erupted, spewing ash, rock and hot gasses into the air.
It was the deadliest volcano eruption in U.S. history, killing 57 people.
The eruption began at 8:32 a.m. By about noon, ash began to rain down on the small farming town of Lind, Washington, and areas throughout the Inland Northwest — including Spokane.
The fallout led to total darkness in Spokane that afternoon, while the ground was covered with half-an-inch of ash.
Photos provided by Fairchild Air Force Base show people donning masks and dealing with the fallout of ash int he Spokane area.
Photos: People cope with ash fallout from Mount St. Helens eruption
Video from the KREM archives also shows ash coating the streets of downtown Spokane and Riverfront Park.
KING 5, KREM's Seattle sister station, later produced a documentary of the historic event called, "The Mountain Erupts," showing what it was like in the hours and days after the eruption.
You can view more photos and RAW video of the eruption below:
KREM has a special section on our website dedicated to the Mount St. Helens anniversary, with several articles about the eruption and your stories about that day 40 years ago.