In 1980 the Channel 7 news in Boston ended with a special bulletin announcing that a 635-foot hill in Milton, Massachusetts, known as the Great Blue Hill, had erupted, and that lava and ash were raining down on nearby homes. Footage was shown of lava pouring down a hillside. The announcer explained that the eruption had been triggered by a geological chain reaction set off by the recent eruption of Mount St. Helens in Washington. An audio tape was played of President Carter and the Governor of Massachusetts declaring the eruption to be a "serious situation." At the end of the segment, the reporter held up a sign that read "April Fool." But by that time local authorities had already been flooded with frantic phone calls from Milton residents. One man, believing that his house would soon be engulfed by lava, had carried his sick wife outside in order to escape. The Milton police continued to receive worried phone calls well into the night. Channel 7 was so embarrassed by the panicked reaction that they apologized for the confusion later that night, and the executive producer responsible for the prank was fired.
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I worked with this poor guy, here in Salt Lake City at KTVX (or was it KUTV? It was a loooong time ago!) just before he left to work in Massachussetts. His name was Skip Cilley. (Pron. "silly".) Seriously, we all felt sorry for him. He wouldn't know me, but I remember how everyone at the station got The Big Lecture about never putting any jokes on-air.
Posted by Becky  in  Salt Lake City  on  Sat Oct 16, 2004  at  03:18 PM

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Jesus, I can't believe how many of these stories seem to end with 'the person responsible for the prank was fired'...
Posted by paul in prague  on  Tue Nov 09, 2004  at  06:40 AM

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I remember this (the story was reported in the Quincy Patriot Ledger), but the date is off. Mount St Helens erupted on May 18, 1980.
Posted by Joe User  on  Tue Dec 21, 2004  at  09:01 PM

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poor manager... thats the price you pay for a good prank
Posted by Tom  on  Thu Mar 17, 2005  at  11:58 PM

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everyone knows that the yanks are daft
Posted by keith  in  great britain  on  Wed Mar 30, 2005  at  09:57 AM

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Jeez! Why didnt the people LOOK OUT SIDE!!!!!!!! I mean didnt they at least look at the volcano form their homes or something???? Bunch of tards if you ask me!
Posted by Hunter  on  Wed Mar 30, 2005  at  04:40 PM

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I remember this one. There hasn't been a volcanic eruption on the east coast in tens of thousands of years. Must be the same type of people who put hot coffee between their legs and drive a car and then sue McDonald's for damages. People, don't be so gullible.
Posted by Bob  in  Maryland  on  Sat Apr 02, 2005  at  12:16 PM

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the anchorwoman who read the story was an old friend named jan harrison. she was against running the story, but gave in to her boss. the hoax hurt her career, too. in fact, i haven't heard from her since, and still wonder where she wound up.
the producer who was fired spent some time in san diego at the cbs affiliate - producing newscasts. (some bosses never learn).
the hoax did air a month before the real mt. st. helens erupted. the boston station (which was owned by RKO at the time) used video of st. helens getting ready to blow, and said it was bunker hill, or baker's hill, or some hill in the area. and i don't think the story ran in a newscast. it was one of those "updates" which used to run during commercial breaks - in prime time!, which meant more people saw it.
Posted by Bill  in  san diego  on  Mon Jul 18, 2005  at  08:50 AM

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This story is ridiculous if only because the Great Blue Hill is a lovely hour-long hike up a wooded hill without even a crater at the top. It's like saying a baseball pitching mound has erupted.

Some people believe anything, I guess.
Posted by Shii  on  Thu Mar 30, 2006  at  10:06 PM

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In 1980 I worked for US Census Department on Cape Cod. On April 1st, I was making my rounds (collecting forms) going door to door in my small cape town. Knocking on one residents door I met this frantic middled aged woman screaming about a vocanic eruption in Boston. She claimed that there was actual footage on TV of lava flowing and poeple screaming (taken from some B movie). She couldn't hand me her census form because she was trying to reach her son (on overloaded phone lines) who lived near the city. I tried to reassure her that this event couldn't happen in the Blue Hills, but she was too upset to be reasoned with. While the Blue Hills in Boston are the remains of ancient Volcano's, they pose no threat to anyone.
Posted by Jim  in  Cape Cod, Massachusetts  on  Sat Apr 01, 2006  at  08:46 PM

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I know it seems ridiculous that people actually believed that hill was a volcano - but seriously, how many people know enough about geology to tell the difference? Personally, I think this was cruel, not funny.
Posted by Michelle  in  London  on  Mon Feb 19, 2007  at  04:53 AM

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I saw that item -- as I recall, it was the "kicker" on Channel 7's early-evening newscast: the time reserved for a light or humorous story. I couldn't believe that people actually fell for this, because the footage of the eruption was horribly faded and scratched, and looked like a battered old newsreel -- hardly something that would have been photographed an hour before.
Posted by Scott  in  Massachusetts  on  Thu Mar 29, 2007  at  12:45 PM

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