After deadly avalanche, California agency opens workplace safety investigation
Three guides were among those killed, according to the guide company.
California officials said Thursday they have opened a workplace safety investigation following the deadliest avalanche in the state's modern history, in which the victims included employees with a guide service.
The California Division of Occupational Safety and Health (Cal/OSHA) confirmed it is conducting an investigation into the avalanche incident in the state's Sierra Nevada Mountains "involving guides employed by Blackbird Mountain Guides."
The agency said it has up to six months to complete and "issue citations if violations of workplace safety regulations are identified."
"While the investigation is active, no additional details are available at this time," the agency said in a statement.
ABC News has reached out to Blackbird Mountain Guides for comment regarding the Cal/OSHA investigation.
The avalanche occurred Tuesday near the Frog Lake Backcountry Huts in the Castle Peak area, northwest of Truckee, burying a group of backcountry skiers who were on a guided trip.
The deadly incident came amid a major winter snowstorm and "high" avalanche danger warnings in the backcountry issued on Tuesday by the Sierra Avalanche Center, raising questions of why the group decided to trek out of the rugged area and not stay sheltered in the Frog Lake Backcountry Huts until the storm passed.
The bodies of eight people killed in the avalanche have since been found, while a missing skier who was with the group is presumed dead, the Nevada County Sheriff Shannan Moon said at a news conference on Wednesday.
Three guides from Blackbird Mountain Guides, who were leading the group back from a three-day backcountry skiing expedition, were among those killed in the avalanche, according to the company.
One of the company's guides survived the avalanche along with five other skiers on the trip, according to the company.
"There is still a lot that we’re learning about what happened," Blackbird Mountain Guides founder Zeb Blais said in a statement on Wednesday. "It's too soon to draw conclusions, but investigations are underway."
Blais said the three employees killed in the avalanche were "highly experienced members of our guide team."
The guides were trained or certified in backcountry skiing by the American Mountain Guides Association and were also instructors with the American Institute of Avalanche Research and Education, "the industry standard for avalanche education," Blais said.
The company has suspended field operations through at least Feb. 22, which may extend into the next week or two, Blais said Wednesday.
"We ask that people following this tragedy refrain from speculating. We don't have all the answers yet, and it may be some time before we do," Blais said.
Following the deadly avalanche, the U.S. Forest Service's Tahoe National Forest is closing the lands and trails in the Castle Peak area, effective Friday through March 15.
"The closure is required for public and first responder safety and to provide for the recovery of the victims," Tahoe National Forest said in a statement on Thursday. "Due to the current instability of the snowpack and need to prioritize first responder access to the area, members of the public are prohibited from entering the closure area during search and rescue operations."
The closure may end earlier if public safety measures are mitigated, forest officials said.
"It is our top priority to ensure the safety of first responders during this recovery mission and aid in the return of each victim to their families," Tahoe National Forest Supervisor Chris Feutrier said in a statement.
Recovery crews have been unable to extract the avalanche victims off the mountain due to hazardous conditions, the Nevada County Sheriff's Office said Thursday. The recovery efforts are expected to go into the weekend, it said.
"Until the recovery mission is completed, the Nevada County Sheriff's Office is unable to confirm the identifications, ages, affiliations, or cities of origin for the victims," the sheriff's office said.
The group of skiers includes parents, mostly mothers, of students at Sugar Bowl Academy, a local school and ski academy, according to a source involved in the search-and-rescue effort and a statement from the school.
The tragedy is the deadliest U.S. avalanche in 45 years, second only to an avalanche that killed 11 people on Washington's Mt. Rainer in 1981.
Related Topics
Popular Reads
ABC News Live