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News About "The Fire Below Us"

Award Winning Documentary

“THE FIRE BELOW US: Remembering Mount St. Helens”
Now On DVD!

Seattle, WA – The seven-time award winning film, “THE FIRE BELOW US: Remembering Mount St. Helens” is now available on DVD. The dramatic documentary features compelling personal stories of survivors as well as the events leading up to the 1980 eruption and its aftermath.

“The Fire Below Us” aired numerous times to rave reviews and high ratings on National Geographic Explorer and PBS, as well as internationally on the Discovery Channel. The DVD version contains the entire film, plus extra footage and bonus material not previously released.

“DVDs really are the wave of the future and we’re excited to offer the very first DVD on Mount St. Helens, said “The Fire Below Us” producer, Michael Lienau. “With DVDs we’re able to include extra behind-the-scenes and additional footage that we’ve always wanted to present. We’ll also be able to include multiple foreign languages and subtitles on the DVD.”

DVD discs deliver the highest quality of interactive audio/video content playable in standard set top p layers and DVD equipped desktop and laptop computers. Last year, DVD players were the fastest selling consumer electronics item in history.

“Just like the top selling video, we expect this DVD on “The Fire Below Us” to be popular with people visiting Mount St. Helens and others who have a keen interest in what happened back in1980,” said Lienau. “We’ve received numerous requests to have the film on DVD and I know it’ll be a great addition to a personal home library.”

Lienau has also teamed up with award-winning and best-selling children’s author/illustrator, Sandy Silverthorn, to create a brand new children’s activity book on Mount St. Helens, “The Fire Below Us Volcano Activity Book.” The book is a much eagerly anticipated product that will allow children and adults to learn about Mount St. Helens and other volcanoes through fun games and activities. It includes creative word games and puzzles, a boardgame to the “Lost Mount St. Helens Gold Mine,” recipes for making homemade volcanoes and lava, and more.

Lienau’s interest in Mount St. Helens stems from his personal experiences with the volcano. In 1980, he was a 20-year-old cameraman with a film crew attempting to capture the first ground level shots of the devastation. When a second eruption shook the ground, they narrowly escaped death when the blast rocketed over their heads. Trapped for three days, the crew became the story they were covering, and were even declared missing and presumed dead. Miraculously, they survived when a rescue helicopter finally spotted them.
“As the helicopter was lifting off the ground, I felt very humbled. It was the beginning of a lesson in life that I’ll never forget,” said Lienau.

Lienau’s dramatic experience fueled a life-long pursuit to understand what happened to him and other survivors of the eruption . . . a pursuit that led him to produce“The Fire Below Us: Remembering Mount St. Helens.”

“I’m still amazed at the interest level in Mount St. Helens. I think people are captivated by this larger-than-life event – probably one of the most significant events of the last century. And what’s more amazing is that it took place right in our own backyard,” said Lienau.

“The Fire Below Us: Remembering Mount St. Helens,” video, DVD, and the companion CD-ROM, “Exploring Mount St. Helens and the Cascade Volcanoes,” and “The Fire Below Us Volcano Activity Book” are available at select retail outlets or go to our Orders page.

Mount St. Helens 20th Anniversary

Survivor of Mount St. Helens’ Eruption
Revisits the Escape of His Life

SEATTLE, WA -- A survivor of Mount St. Helens’ 1980 eruption is marking the 20th Anniversary by once again telling his remarkable story of survival and by alerting the public to the potential danger of other geologic hazards in the Cascade mountains.

In 1980 Michael Lienau was a 20-year-old cameraman with a film crew attempting to capture the first ground level shots of the devastation. When a second eruption shook the ground, they narrowly escaped death when the blast rocketed over their heads. Trapped for three days, the crew became the story they were covering, and were even declared missing and presumed dead. Miraculously they survived when a rescue helicopter finally spotted them.

Lienau’s dramatic experience fueled a life-long pursuit to understand what happened to him and other survivors of the eruption. His survival story and others are featured in the award-winning documentary he produced, “The Fire Below Us: Remembering Mount St. Helens,” which has aired several times on National Geographic Explorer, and will be re-broadcast on KCTS-TV (PBS) in Seattle on May 13, 2000 at 9:00pm.

Lienau is now producing a new documentary series on other geologic hazards in Cascadia. The potential danger of their volcanic eruptions–especially Mt. Rainier–is very real, he says.

“The 20th anniversary of the Mount St. Helens eruption is significant because typically in geologic history when one Cascade volcano erupts, another follows within the next 20 years. That means there is a high probability of another eruption in Cascadia happening sometime soon, and Mt. Rainier is considered the most dangerous,” said Lienau.

The new series is scheduled for release in 2001.

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News About "The Fire Below Us"

Award Winning Documentary

“THE FIRE BELOW US: Remembering Mount St. Helens”
Now On DVD!