HISTORICAL NEWS SEARCH - Government of British Columbia

Source: Northern Sentinel, May 25, 1994; The Terrace Standard, May 25, 1994.
On May 22, a small snow avalanche killed a member of a ski-mountaineering group. The accident occurred near
Europa Lake, 125 km south of Kitimat. The victim, 31-year old Randy Stoltmann of West Vancouver, was swept over a 360m
cliff. Stoltmann, a well-known environmentalist, and his four companions were on a 21-day ski-mountaineering holiday
from Mussel Inlet to Cornwall Point in the Gardener Canal near Kemano.
September 5-6, 1994
Event type: Non-fatal landslide.
Precipitation: Scotia River (47.0 mm/ 2 days), September 5-6, 1994.
Source: Tony W. Wideski, Operations Manager, North Coast Forest District. Operations Division Early warning: Roadside
slump in Alder Creek, North Coast Forest District; File 17275.01 Letter September 26, 1994, J.W. Schwab, Research
Geomorphologist, to Tony Wideski.
On September 6 at approximately 10:00 a.m., a roadside slump near the Alder Creek Forest Service Road partially
buried a worker. The victim, who was hand cleaning a ditch below a 2 m high cutbank, was knocked unconscious was not
found for approximately one hour. He was subsequently evacuated to Prince Rupert Regional Hospital where his condition
was reported as stable. The incident occurred on an upper spur: Stn. 1+458.8 within Timber Sale Licence A43277. The
slump, which was 13 m long, 8 m wide and 3 m deep displaced about 312 m 3 of material and was caused by a combination
of factors. High rainfall during the previous days had saturated the soils while the uphill side of the road was destabilised
from recent road building activities.
September 22, 1994
Event type: Flooding and mudslide.
Precipitation: Not available.
Source: The Interior News, September 28, 1994.
In the Meziadin-Iskut area, heavy rains accompanied by unusually warm temperatures caused swollen rivers and
creeks, washed out roads, minor mudslides and clogged culverts. On September 22, a flash flood knocked out Burrage
Bridge between Bob Quinn-Iskut and closed traffic on Highway 37 for several days. One end of the 110-ft (33 m) steel girder
bridge collapsed when the Burrage River washed out an approach. The span fell about 15 ft. (4.5 m). An emergency Bailey
bridge trucked in from Terrace was expected to be in place on September 26. On Highway 37A to Stewart in the Bear Pass,
the top of a large steel culvert collapsed. A temporary Bailey bridge was installed. While repairs were carried out, traffic was
reduced to single-lane only.
September 28, 1994
Event type: Fatal debris slide.
Precipitation: Not applicable.
Source: The Terrace Standard, October 5, 1994.
A section of road under construction at Kiseadin Creek near Greenville gave way. A D-8 Cat employed building a
road on a steep slope plunged 1,500 ft (450 m). A heavy equipment operator was killed. The victim was trapped and pinned
inside the machine. Helicopters tried to extricate the Cat. Using every piece of available equipment, it still took more than 24
hours to recover the body. Heavy rainfalls were reported in the area prior to the accident.
November 3, 1994
Event type: Subaqueous slide and tsunami.
Precipitation: Not applicable.
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