Avalanche Danger "High"

Sun Valley Slides Bury Homes, Cause Evacuations

By Gary Stivers, 1-28-08

FROM OUR PARTNER SUNVALLEYONLINE

Ketchum Police are evacuating the Huffman Drive area of Warm Springs following ‘a number of slides’ from Storm 10’s new snow hitting several structures below the north valley wall of Warm Springs.

KPD closed off all traffic into Warm Springs just before noon Monday, to make evacuations as simple and efficient as possible.

No estimates of damage done to homes in the area has yet been released, nor have the number of people involved. KPD spokeswoman Kim Rogers has stated no injuries have been reported, though we understand homes have been hit by the slides.

Rogers issued the following statement at 12:39 Monday afternoon.

As of 12:20, evacuations of residents on Huffman, Sage, and Hillside are in effect for both sides of the streets. Evacuation notices are being delivered door to door by fire and police personnel. Multiple structures have been hit and are being evaluated by fire personnel. This event is under unified command by Senior Lieutenant Tory Canfield and Assistant Police Chief Mike McNeil. The avalanche activity is in a natural release cycle and is very active and will remain so throughout the day. Please exercise extreme caution, avoid steep slopes, and stay out of the bottom of canyons.

The Sawtooth Avalanche Center this morning set avalanche danger at HIGH, noting natural releases will take place throughout the day today and urging people to stay off and away from angled terrain and stay away from avalanche runout areas at the bottom of big slopes.

This incident is the first this reporter has heard of avalanches hitting homes in Ketchum in the last couple of decades.

Like this story? Get more! Sign up for our free newsletters.