Roy Schurz

Roy Schurz was the Police Chief of Orofino, Idaho. Before that, he had served on the San Atanasio, California police force with Colin Ferguson including being partners in a patrol car for several years when both were still uniformed officers. After the Yellowstone Supervolcano erupted, Ferguson ask, as a favor, for him to help his girlfriend Kelly Birnbaum get out of Missoula, Montana and back to Berkeley.

Schurz did so by borrowing an Idaho National Guard Humvee that had seen service in Afghanistan or Iraq and a Guardsman to ride shotgun (actually to man the mounted machine gun). While nothing untoward had yet happened, people were beginning to get anxious due to food and fuel shortages and the authorities were beginning to put on armed escorts on supply convoys. Schurz found Birnbaum staying at Daniel Olson's apartment and drove her to Orofino.