Still no permanent fix for St. Paul caves
Posted: Sun Jan 07, 2024 1:10 am
https://kstp.com/5-investigates/still-n ... aul-caves/
12/27/2004 Still no permanent fix for St. Paul caves
The city of St. Paul still hasn’t figured out what to do to make the caves along the river bluffs safer. Last spring, three teens died in the abandoned mines. 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS takes a look back at the tragedy and the city’s efforts to make sure it doesn’t happen again.
The tragedy happened here in April and at that time, the city promised dramatic changes to keep people out of the dangerous caves that line the bluffs. You can see there are signs posted. But now eight months later there’s still no permanent fix to make the caves safer.
The chaotic scene played out live on 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS. "Dark, cold, kind of scary, a lot of guys were kind of nervous going in there..," one firefighter said.
Rescuers risked their own lives to try to save 4 teenagers. Justin Jensen survived. But his friends Patrick Dague, Natalie VanVorst and Nick Larson all died overcome by carbon monoxide. One firefighter said, "It’s really too bad, these kids don’t understand these caves are dangerous."
Investigators think a campfire set days earlier consumed all of the oxygen in the cave.
After the tragedy, Mayor Randy Kelly vowed to take immediate action. City workers constructed makeshift barriers to keep kids out of the caves. "I think we’re doing all that we can at the moment," Mayor Kelly said.
But this summer, 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS investigated and found the city’s efforts weren’t working. Danger signs were ripped down. Blocked openings were unblocked. We found an opening just 30 feet from where the tragedy took place. The problem was clear. You could see the city tried to seal it with plywood but the kids just scrape around it. The sandstone just crumbles away.
"We often close them up, they can dig right around them, it gets very frustrating," one city worker said.
The city hired an outside consultant to come up with a better solution. The study was expected to take four to eight weeks. That was in June. Now six months later there’s still no decision.
City officials met with CNA Consulting Engineers just last week and say the new timeline shows a report will be released in the coming weeks. The options of what to do could include filling the caves, trying to vent them or demolishing them altogether.
12/27/2004 Still no permanent fix for St. Paul caves
The city of St. Paul still hasn’t figured out what to do to make the caves along the river bluffs safer. Last spring, three teens died in the abandoned mines. 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS takes a look back at the tragedy and the city’s efforts to make sure it doesn’t happen again.
The tragedy happened here in April and at that time, the city promised dramatic changes to keep people out of the dangerous caves that line the bluffs. You can see there are signs posted. But now eight months later there’s still no permanent fix to make the caves safer.
The chaotic scene played out live on 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS. "Dark, cold, kind of scary, a lot of guys were kind of nervous going in there..," one firefighter said.
Rescuers risked their own lives to try to save 4 teenagers. Justin Jensen survived. But his friends Patrick Dague, Natalie VanVorst and Nick Larson all died overcome by carbon monoxide. One firefighter said, "It’s really too bad, these kids don’t understand these caves are dangerous."
Investigators think a campfire set days earlier consumed all of the oxygen in the cave.
After the tragedy, Mayor Randy Kelly vowed to take immediate action. City workers constructed makeshift barriers to keep kids out of the caves. "I think we’re doing all that we can at the moment," Mayor Kelly said.
But this summer, 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS investigated and found the city’s efforts weren’t working. Danger signs were ripped down. Blocked openings were unblocked. We found an opening just 30 feet from where the tragedy took place. The problem was clear. You could see the city tried to seal it with plywood but the kids just scrape around it. The sandstone just crumbles away.
"We often close them up, they can dig right around them, it gets very frustrating," one city worker said.
The city hired an outside consultant to come up with a better solution. The study was expected to take four to eight weeks. That was in June. Now six months later there’s still no decision.
City officials met with CNA Consulting Engineers just last week and say the new timeline shows a report will be released in the coming weeks. The options of what to do could include filling the caves, trying to vent them or demolishing them altogether.