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Show The remains of the G. S. home were moved 500 feet from its foundation. The W. A. house was nothing but pieces of broken walls, roof and shattered boards. In addition, one other house, a cabin, a garage and a barn were completely destroyed. Only one- half of the trailer house remained, and another cabin was pushed off its foundation. Two cars, three trucks, two pickups, two tractors, two small trailers, and other miscellaneous machinery were demolished. All household items were a complete loss. In addition to covering the road to a depth of eight feet, power and telephone lines were obliterated for 1000 feet. A six- ton boiler came to rest on the flat beyond the road. Before the avalanche, this boiler was located at the Gordon Tiger mine. The slide carried it 4,600 feet down the mountain. As if this destruction was not enough, the " white death" added another ironic note - among the debris the bodies of two deer were found. RESCUE When N. L. awoke at 0830 he remembered hearing nothing during the night. As soon as he realized what the scene of destruction before him meant, he woke a nearby resident and together they walked to the store down the road to telephone for help. The phone lines were dead, but a little farther on they saw some people getting into their car and asked them to notify the sheriff's office. The alert was received at 0850 and rescue operations were set in gear immediately. D. D. headed up the local Lake County Rescue group, and other volunteer rescuers poured to the scene. The first rescuers at the scene could hear W. A. and his wife B. A. calling for help. It took considerable time to extricate them from the snow and splintered debris. W. A. was uncovered around 0930 ( 4 hours after the avalanche struck. Electric clocks at Twin Lakes stopped at 0531.) His wife, B. A., was freed about 1110, 5 hours and 40 minutes after she had been buried. She was about 75 feet from her husband. Their family dog was also found alive in the debris, cowering under what had been the kitchen table. Mr. and Mrs. A. were evacuated to the Leadville hospital where they were treated for multiple bruises, cuts, and frostbite. W. A. described his harrowing experience in vivid detail. " I awoke suddenly and heard a loud crack like the house had blown up. The house started moving and then caved in and snow came into my face. A dresser and two sliding closet doors came across the room and fell over me forming a kind of lean- to. When the snow and debris stopped moving, I was pinned in a twisted, almost standing position. I thought I was a goner but I never was knocked out* The time sure went slow- it seemed like five years. " At a time like that you pray hard, but I yelled for help off and on. At first I could raise my arm to see my watch, but then the snow kept settling until I was pinned so tight I couldn't look at it anymore." Both Mr. and Mrs. A. were under approximately one foot of snow mixed with parts of their house. As the search continued, rescuers numbered around 400. The road to the area was lined with cars for 3^ miles, with an estimated 2000 spectators. At about 1300 hours, rescuers uncovered the body of 15 year old S. S. He was buried under 10 feet of snow and debris, still 74 |