Factory shrinkwrap. A volcanologist forlorn over the loss of his wife in the Mt. Pinatubo eruption arrives at a small Pacific Northwest town to investigate the rumblings of the local dormant volcano. Though he instantly fears the worse, he must convince the skeptical townspeople and his suspicious superiors who believe he is overreacting in the aftermath of his own tragedy. The beautiful, widowed mayor of the picturesque town believes him, however, and soon they find themselves in a fight for their lives as "Dante's Peak" blows its stack ten miles high, raining ash and fire over everything in its shadow.