All right.
The conference room ought to be...
big enough for you
to set up shop in.
Thanks. Do you know where
I can find Harry Dalton?
- I expected to see him here.
- He's over at the city council chambers.
He and the mayor
called a meeting.
- Okay.
When is this mountain
likely to blow up?
I wish predicting volcanic eruptions
were an exact science. Unfortunately...
Oh, perfect. So we put the town
on notice, and then nothing happens.
People, we're not the only town
in this state.
All right, so are we ready
to put it to vote?
I don't know if we have
enough information.
Paul.
Everybody, this is my boss
Dr Paul Dreyfus.
- Mayor Wando.
- Hi. Rachel.
It's a pleasure indeed.
Uh, what's going on here?
I've recommended to the council members
they put this town on alert.
They were just about
to vote on it.
- Can I have a word with you outside?
- Sure.
Excuse us.

- Who the hell is this guy?
- I sent you here to look around,
not to scare the hell
out of the city council.
But two people are dead.
Recommending an alert seemed
the only responsible thing to do.
There are dozens of reasons that would
account for what happened there.
Anything from a mild earthquake
to a slight seismic shift.
Not one of them means the mountain's
gonna blow up next week or next month...
- or the next hundred years.
- The whole spirit
of the town was on its way up.
Just thinks he can walk in here...
Ladies and gentlemen, I am sure
Dr Dalton was doing...
what he thought was
in your town's best interests.
However, I have learned
through bitter experience...
that these decisions
are not to be made lightly.
Back in 1980, I would have
bet you a million bucks...
that Mammoth Mountain
was about to go up.
We began to talk about the possibility
of putting that town on alert.
Thank God the mountain didn't go up,
but the damage had already been done.
The word leaked out that the
U.S.G.S. Had expressed concern.