HISTORICAL NEWS SEARCH - Government of British Columbia

November 18-20, 1993
Event type: Fatal debris slide.
Precipitation: Kitimat 2 (66.4 mm/1 day), November 18, 1993; Prince Rupert M. Circ. (166.9 mm/2 days), November
18-19, 1993; Stewart A (81.8 mm/2 days), November 18-19, 1993; Terrace A (37.8 mm/1 day), November 19, 1993;
Hartley Bay (221.8 mm/36 hrs.), November 19-20; Kildala (107.2 mm/36 hrs. ), November 19-20; Kitimat Townsite (108.2
mm/36 hrs.), November 19-20.
Source: Files Ministry of Forest, North Coast Forest District.
On November 19 at approximately 2:15 p.m., a debris avalanche buried and killed a Tsibass Construction Ltd.
buckerman. The failure traveled approximately 80 m depositing mud and debris on the road. It started without warning and
moved very rapidly down covering the worker. Efforts to rescue the victim were unsuccessful. The accident occurred in Blk.
4, CP410 of TO 236 on the eastern shore of Allan Reach near Shearwater Point approximately 70 km southwest of Kitimat.
The relatively small slide, which was about 10 m wide, 75 m long and 0.5 m deep moved approximately 350 m 3
of material. Based on preliminary findings the slide occurred as a result of a combination of heavy rains, steep terrain and
destabilised soils resulting from harvesting activities. Heavy rain was reported on the day of the event. Hartley Bay, located
approximately 45 km due west of Shearwater Point, recorded 144 mm on November 19.
Late December 1993
Event type: Clay flowslide.
Precipitation: Not applicable.
Source: The Terrace Standard, April 27, 1994; September 28, 1994; File 17275-20 Mink Creek, Memorandum, April 21,
1994, J.W. Schwab, Research Geomorphologist, B.C. Ministry of Forests, Smithers. Geertsema. 1995; Geertsema, pers.
comm. November 21, 2003.
Around late December, a landslide near Lakelse Lake came down and partially dammed Mink Creek. It left a 25ft.
(7.5 m) drop off at the top of the slope covering the shallow valley floor with a soup of clay, gravel and silts. The 23-ha
earthflow in sensitive glaciomarine sediments involved 1.4 million m 3 of material. The landslide crater is located less than 10
km from the sites of two other large earthflows that occurred at Lakelse Lake in May and June 1962.
This major slide came within 1 km of the Mink Creek trestle on the Terrace to Kitimat rail line. The failure
occupying an area of 32 ha. occurred on terrain gently sloping at 10% toward Mink Creek. Approximately 500,000-600,000
m 3 of material moved downslope. The creek was plugged with an estimated 240,000 m 3 of water saturated sensitive clay
and debris covering a length of 1,200 m of stream channel (north and south forks). Aerial photos taken by Skeena Cellulose
showed a discoloration of Lakelse Lake caused by the surge of sediment into the lake.
The remainder of the creek carried heavy sediment laden water to the junction with Lakelse River. The mud
formed a dam and created two ponds. The largest pond, on the north fork of Mink Creek, extended back for a distance of 900
m to the railroad trestle. The pond on the south fork extended back 400 m. The total area impacted by the slide, including the
run-out into the creek was 43 ha. (Geertsema, pers. comm.).
February 10-13, 1994
Event type: Non-fatal snow slides.
Precipitation: Not applicable.
Source: Jamieson and Geldsetzer 1996 (p. 176).
On February 12, an avalanche near Kildala Pass trapped six people in an emergency shelter for several days. On
February 10, two crews of six were flown by helicopter to Kildala Pass to restore a powerline tower. As the first crew left, the
weather deteriorated. The other six people were forced to stay behind, finding refuge in the small emergency shelter at the
base of the damaged tower, which was exposed to avalanches from Glacier Creek Bowl. *1)
Overnight February 10-11, an estimated 100 cm of new snow fell. At noon, there was a light to moderate wind and
the barometric pressure was falling steadily. The men, preparing to stay for an indefinite period, spent then entire day shoring
up the shack with double 2 x 12 pillars.
During the night of February 11-12, an avalanche hit and damaged the shack and dumped 2 m of snow on the roof.
An estimated 50-75 cm of new snow fell; the wind was moderate from the southwest and the pressure bottomed at 828 mb.
At 10 a.m, another large avalanche shook the shelter. The two men shoveling snow outside escaped. The snow/air
turbulence the men heard and felt inside indicated that a fairly major avalanche had passed by.
Overnight February 12-13, an additional estimated 20-30 cm of snow fell. The wind was light from the southwest
and zero visibility. Later that day, a helicopter was able to airlift the men out. The remains of a fracture line estimated 2 m
deep was observed between the towers on the pass.
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*1) Because of this incident, the shelter at camp 12 is no longer used for overnight stays in the winter. All work is done with
a helicopter on hand and in fair weather.
May 22, 1994
Event type: Fatal snow avalanche.
Precipitation: Not applicable.
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