A phone call at 2:11 p.m. shattered a quiet Monday: Whakaari had erupted with tourists on the crater floor. From that moment, we step into a week where science, instinct, and grief collided—and where a volcanologist had to help decide whether recovery teams could return to an active volcano while families waited for news.

We sit down with Nico Fournier, the volcanologist who became the connective tissue between seismology, gas readings, deformation data, drones, and the authorities tasked with acting fast. Nico explains why small, explosive eruptions can be catastrophic at close range, how New Zealand’s volcanic alert levels guide decisions, and why the team opted to communicate conservatively when webcams went blind under ash. He also shares the most human part of the job: meeting families, opening his laptop, and translating rising underground activity into clear reasons to pause, even as the urge to bring loved ones home grew stronger.

Across two recovery operations, we follow the logistics and the stakes: Navy ships, inflatables, police specialists on breathing apparatus, fire‑service drones mapping the ground, and helicopter lifts coordinated minute by minute. Nico watched the crater from offshore with optics and infrared while a senior seismologist monitored real‑time signals—told to call the instant his gut flipped. It’s a rare window into how expert intuition, built on decades of pattern recognition, becomes a safety threshold when models can’t give hard lines.

We also reckon with what followed: reconstructing the fate of the missing through seismic signatures of overnight mudflows, and the vital role of local iwi who led blessings and supported survivors and families. The result is a candid look at decision‑making under uncertainty, risk mitigation on active volcanoes, and the ethics of when to go and when to stand down.

Stay tuned for Part Two of Nico's story.

Links:

https://www.gns.cri.nz/about-us/staff-search/nico-fournier/

https://www.iavceivolcano.org/

DONATE TO IAVCEI:

https://www.iavceivolcano.org/donation-form/

Social Media:

https://www.instagram.com/nicofournier

https://www.linkedin.com/in/nico-fournier-0130704/

https://www.instagram.com/iavcei/

https://www.linkedin.com/company/iavcei-int-assoc-of-volcanology-chemistry-of-the-earth-s-interior/posts/?feedView=all

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