Warning: There could be more to come
By Hayden Seder
On Monday, April 8, an avalanche at Warm Springs and Whipsaw Lane in the Board Ranch neighborhood of Warm Springs in Ketchum hit two homes and narrowly missed a third, causing extensive damage to both buildings. No one was hurt, as both homes were vacant.
The Sawtooth Avalanche Center warns that avalanche danger is high due to recent rain and multiple days of above-freezing temperatures. The center advises staying off of and out from below all steep slopes.
How It All Went Down
The Ketchum Fire Department received a call at 2:01 p.m. on Monday about the avalanche. Assistant Fire Chief Tom Ancona was the first on the scene and established Board Ranch Command. He was soon followed by Ketchum Engine 1 with four personnel on board with all necessary avalanche equipment, including snowshoes, poles and personal beacons.
“They came prepared to do a rescue inside the buildings,” said Tom Bowman, Ketchum’s interim fire chief. “At the time of dispatch, we were unsure whether there were occupants or not. Our initial reports said not, but we never take that first report as gospel. We always confirm on our own.”
As Engine 1 rolled out to the scene, Ketchum Rural Engine 2 and 3 responded with paid, on-call volunteers who were directed to Ketchum Station 1 to stand by until Ancona could make an assessment. Ancona spoke with a caretaker of one of the houses, who confirmed that no one was in the house. The caretaker also lives in Board Ranch and said that no one had seen anyone in the second house for months.
“We made the decision that this information was good enough—we weren’t going to put our firefighters at risk searching a collapsed building,” Bowman said.
After having assessed that the buildings had no one inside, the firefighters then directed their attention to securing the homes’ utilities, including shutting off a leaking propane tank inside one of the houses. After the utilities were turned off, yellow “Do Not Enter” tape was put up across the driveways of the homes, ending the extent of the fire department’s response.
What To Look Out For
A report from the Blaine County Sheriff’s Office said that Warm Springs Road is closed to non-residents at Penny Lake but that school buses are being allowed access.
The Sawtooth Avalanche Center has reported other recent wet avalanches and advises that similar slides are likely this week as warm temperatures and rain turn the snowpack to mush. The entire Wood River Valley has been given a 4 (high) avalanche rating by the center.
Ketchum and Hailey city officials reported no other flooding or weather-related incidents this past weekend.