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FEATuRED SubMiSSiONPolicing through the ashIceland police no strangers to volcanic eruptionsCourtesy NCP/CPEby Chief insp Rögnvaldur ÓlafssonNational Commissioner ofthe icelandic PoliceDepartment of Civil Protection andEmergency ManagementVolcanic eruptions are common in Iceland,occurring on average every four to fiveyears. All the volcanic areas in Iceland arewell known and an extensive surveillancesystem of seismometers and GPS monitoringstations has been very effective in warning ofimminent eruptions.While most of the active volcanoesare situated outside of populated areas, theindirect effects—volcanic ash, earthquakes,flash floods—can be felt for some distance.This was the case last April, when the ashfrom the eruption of the Eyjafjallajökullvolcanic system caused the cancellation ofmost flights in Europe.While international eyes were on thedrifting ash, police and residents in Icelandwere well prepared, having participated inan extensive emergency response exercisein 2006 that included a complete evacuationof the area around the Eyjafjallajökull andKatla volcanoes. Public awareness waskey: people responded quickly to the 2010evacuation notice and provided criticaleyewitness accounts to police.The following article describes the twovolcanic eruptions that took place, and howIcelandic police responded.First eruptionThe police in Iceland are responsible for coordinatingthe civil protection efforts of allemergency responders during a disaster.Fifteen district chiefs of police are responsiblefor the local co-ordination with help andsupport from the National Commissionerof the Icelandic Police, Department of CivilProtection and Emergency Management(NCP/CPE), which co-ordinates emergencyresponse plans at the national level.Just before midnight on March 20,2010, farmers called local police to reportstrange lights coming from the directionof the Eyjafjallajökull and Mýrdalsjökullglaciers. The National Joint Rescue CoordinationCentre (JRCC) was activated andthe local police were sent to investigate. Theyconfirmed that a volcanic eruption was inprogress.Poor visibility that night preventedscientists from seeing the exact location of theeruption. But after consulting with the localpolice and the Department of Civil Protectionand Emergency Management, NCP/CPEordered an evacuation based on the responseplan for an eruption at Eyjafjallajökull. The112 centre (Iceland’s 911) sent out evacuationnotifications over telephone and mobilephones using SMS and pre-recorded voicemessages. All 700 people were evacuatedwithin two hours.Scientists confirmed the following day thatthe eruption was not Katla or Eyjafjallajökullbut Fimmvörðuháls, a mountain ridgebetween the two volcanoes. It was deemeda very small eruption and unlikely to causeflash floods so the evacuation was lifted.Small but still dangerousBeing a small event, the NationalCommissioner of the Icelandic Police (NCP)anticipated a few people would want to seethe eruption and it arranged for some gravelroads to be repaired and opened. Morearrangements were made to open a scenic spotabout 15 kilometres from the eruption whereit could be safely admired. What police didn’texpect was the large volume of people whodrove and hiked up the Fimmvörðuháls ridgefor a very close look.Travelling in the highlands of Iceland isalways serious business, especially in winter.Access to the Fimmvörðuháls ridge is possibleonly by helicopter, super Jeep, snowmobile,small ATV or on foot. A round trip on foottakes about 10-12 hours in temperatures of -17degrees Celsius or colder in strong winds.The challenging conditions did notprevent or dissuade visitors from going upthe ridge. As many as 600 vehicles and 200hikers—upwards of 3,000 people — headedup to Fimmvörðuháls each day. Despite dailywarnings by police, many paid no attention tothe dangers, which included rapidly changingweather conditions, cold temperatures, steamexplosions from the lava running over icefields, and hot flowing lava. People stooddangerously close to the lava field and, insome cases, walked on the new lava unawarethat they were standing on a thin crust with1,200 degrees Celsius hot lava under their feet.It became clear that police needed tointervene before someone got seriously hurt.Police and ICE-SAR (a volunteer rescueorganization) stationed themselves on the28Gazette Vol. 72, No. 3, 2010