ANCHORAGE, Alaska — A fishing vessel rescued 10 people after a volcano erupted, sending rocks and ash down on a cattle ranch on a remote island in the Aleutian Islands of Alaska.
The Tara Gaila picked up the people Saturday night after an urgent call from the Coast Guard. They were taken to a hotel in Dutch Harbor, about 65 miles away.
Lonnie Kennedy, who lives on Umnak Island at the base of the 3,500-foot Okmok Caldera with his family and some ranch hands, said all seemed normal until late Saturday morning.
“We heard something that sounded like thunder and went outside and right away realized it wasn’t thunder. It sounded like huge rocks rolling or something,” he said.
He said he used a helicopter to fly people, one or two at a time, 6 miles away to Unalaska Island to get away from the worst of the ash until the Tara Gaila could pick them up.
“You could see no daylight in any direction (because of the falling ash). It was pitch black,” he said. “I was scared.”
