Voight's successful prediction that an avalanche at St. Helens could provoke a lateral eruption, an eruption from the volcano's flank rather than its summit, attracted the attention of the government of Montserrat in March 1996. Worried about an expanding lava dome at the Soufrière Hills volcano, the island's government asked Voight to assess its potential for an avalanche that could generate an eruption. Voight thought it was unlikely that the crater would collapse, but expressed concern over a possible pyroclastic flow that could reach the city of Plymouth in approximately three minutes. The city and a village on the mountain were evacuated, and within three years, pyroclastic flows overtook the abandoned sites.