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Treacherous work to recover the body of a 34-year-old woman who was killed when an ice cave collapsed in Snohomish County will resume Tuesday as five others who were injured by falling ice recover.
Of the five injured at the Big Four Ice Caves, three were transported to Harborview Medical Center -- a 25-year-old man who is in serious condition; a 35-year-old man in satisfactory condition and a 35-year-old woman who was treated and released. Two girls, one of them 14 years old, were transported to Providence Regional Medical Center in Everett.
The Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest has closed access to the Big Four Ice Caves area until further notice, to "ensure safety of national forest visitors" and to allow teams to recover the body of a woman whom died in the ice cave collapse.
Lack of cellphone service slowed rescue
The Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office said the initial call came in to 911 about 5:38 p.m. It is estimated that the collapse occurred around 45 minutes earlier.
"Our biggest problem with rescue operations in this area has always been communication," said Search and Rescue Sgt. Danny Wikstrom.
Officials say there is no cellphone coverage area for several square miles and radio communication between first responders can be spotty, due to the terrain. It is 14.5 miles to nearest phone at Verlot Ranger Station from the ice caves.
Recovery of body will be treacherous
Snohomish County deputies said the woman who was killed was inside the cave when it collapsed. It was 80 degrees at the caves Monday, and the warm weather has caused instability and melting of ice.
Crews are now trying to figure out how to safely get into the collapsed cave located about 10 miles east of Granite Falls. Officials say the victim is at the back of the cave and the extremely dangerous conditions will make a safe recovery difficult.
Technical rescue personnel who have examined the cave say that the collapse of rock and ice occurred at the back of the cave and that more debris fell in the cave overnight.
Forest Service warned of dangers
The Forest Service had been warning about the dangers of the cave since late May, when the caves were unstable, crumbling and collapsing because of the low amount of snowpack. Since then, skyrocketing temperatures have only made the danger worse.
And though there are clear warning signs posted not to go into the caves, many still venture inside or close to them.
Woman says she escaped collapse
KIRO 7 found the social media accounts of a woman who said she survived Monday’s collapse.
She posted pictures of the cave before it crashed down on her and several others.
Chloe Jakubowski says she and friends ran to safety but had to drive miles to reach a pay phone to call 911. She later posted about it on Instagram.
“Got caught in an Ice Cave collapse I'm so insanely lucky that I'm still alive I hope they get those injured people out of there RIP to the woman next to me,” the post said.
Jakubowski said she escaped with only a scrape.
On Monday, hiker Sara Soleimani posted video from her Sunday trip to the ice caves showing a collapse that day. She says people were inside the cave during the weekend collapse, but they were not under the ice when it fell.
Death not first at caves
In 2010, 11-year-old Grace Tam was killed at the Big Four Ice Caves. She was not inside a cave, but was killed when she was struck by a chunk of ice the size of a truck.
