Winter hangs on to make things hairy
Railroad blasts avalanches in Glacier
By CHRIS PETERSON
Hungry Horse News
An expensive wreck and the threat of avalanches closed down U.S. Highway 2 across the Continental Divide last week on two separate days.
On Friday, (Feb. 23) a tractor-trailer truck pulling a low-boy from Alberta rear-ended a state Department of Transportation rotary plow at the crest of Marias Pass.
The truck driver, Klas Friesen, of Purple Springs, Alberta, was driving over the pass when he claimed he didn't see the rotary plow, which has bright flashing lights.
His rig slid on the ice and struck the plow. The driver of the plow, Frederick Fekete of Essex, wasn't hurt in the wreck. Neither was Friesen, but both rigs were totaled and the highway was blocked by the mess for about three hours.
The wreck happened about 11 a.m. and the highway was finally cleared about 2 p.m. Friesen faces citations in the accident, according to Montana Highway Patrol.
The accident was an expensive one, causing an estimated $500,000 in damage.
The road from West Glacier to the Pass was slicked up from about a foot or more of snow that fell late Thursday night. The heavy snow also caused several accidents here in the valley, though they weren't life threatening.
The heavy snow also ramped up the avalanche danger and late Friday, Glacier National Park issued a 24 hour permit to Burlington Northern Santa Fe to blast several avalanche chutes on Running Rabbit and Snowslip Mountains.
On Saturday, four slides were blasted with charges dropped from a helicopter by BNSF explosives experts after Park personnel determined there were no humans and wildlife on the slides.
All told, 10 charges were used, said Park Spokeswoman Melissa Wilson.
There were two class one avalanches as a result of the charges and one class three avalanche that ran down and over shed 8 at the railroad, but did not slide to the highway.
The highway was closed from noon to 1:45 p.m. and rail traffic was delayed from noon to 2 p.m. said BNSF spokesman Gus Melonas.
One charge did not detonate, but was recovered, Wilson said. As part of the permit process, the charges were fitted with beacons that allowed BNSF personnel to recover them.
Wilson stressed the Park was not involved with the actual blasting operation.
BNSF has record volumes of rail traffic through the corridor, Melonas said. About 50 trains a day travel through Marias Pass.
The effort to blast the avalanches was pre-emptive. On Jan. 28, 2004 an empty 119 car freight train was stopped by an avalanche in the John Stevens Canyon. While it was stopped, avalanches hit a train and derailed 15 cars.
The avalanches subsequently almost hit a tractor trailer truck, narrowly missed a cleanup crew and backed up train traffic for 29 hours.
After that, BNSF approached the Park Service and Forest Service to come up with an avalanche control plan.
The Park is currently working on an Environmental Impact Statement on the plan. That is currently undergoing internal review, Wilson said.
Melonas said BNSF considered Saturday's blasting a success.
The railroad right-of-way is actually located on Forest Service land.
Avalanches in the area are fairly common, especially after heavy snows. Decades ago, particularly in the 1950s, avalanches and heavy snows closed traffic down on the highway for weeks on end.