Story Photos
 Marc Melcher fields telephone calls and his son Jarrid surveys their home Thursday morning after a hillside of trees and mud slammed into the house and knocked it eight feet off its foundation at 307 Burcham St. in Kelso. Bill Wagner / The Daily News
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Slide pushes Kelso home off foundation
Friday, January 9, 2009 8:56 PM PST
By Barbara LaBoe
Printable version
E-mail this articleA rain-saturated hillside gave way and knocked a Kelso home eight feet off its foundation Thursday morning, shattering glass and mangling the home and nerves of the residents and their neighbors. No one was injured, but several homes were evacuated as emergency workers kept a wary eye on the rest of the hillside. An area roughly 25-feet by 50-feet gave way without warning.
Evacuations of the homes above the slide likely will last until the hillside can be examined by experts, said Susie Meyers, the city of Longview public information officer assisting the Cowlitz County Department of Emergency Management.
Marc Melcher and his 22-year-old son were sleeping in the house at 307 Burcham St. around 11:30 a.m., when they heard and felt what they thought was a large earthquake. Instead the hillside above them gave way, picking up and slamming Jarrid Melcher’s truck into the house. The slide also toppled trees and left a power pole leaning off-kilter.
“I never even worried about that hill,” Marc Melcher said after he and his son got out of the home. Tears gathered in the corner of his eyes as he gazed at the house from across the street. “I didn’t expect this much destruction.”
Jarrid Melcher didn’t know what to think when he heard the sound of the slide, and the next thing he knew he was covered in glass from a broken window, he said. Marc Melcher called to his son, and both were able to get out the front door, though the roof was listing above it and the porch had moved.
A crack extends the length of the roof inside and floors are buckled, Marc Melcher said. Meyers said it’s possible the home could be declared a complete loss, but no official determination has been made.
Homes above the slide near Burcham Street and Sixth Avenue were evacuated in case more of the hillside slips. Homes along Burcham between Fourth Street and Kelso Avenue also were evacuated briefly to allow Cowlitz PUD crews to take down power lines and begin repairs.
Concrete stairs in the neighborhood leading up to Sixth Avenue are covered with trees and are also closed. The stairs are popular in the neighborhood and also are used by many schoolchildren in the area.
Neighbors and others gathered along the taped-off areas to see what had happened. Emergency officials said it’s best for the public to avoid the area — particularly the area above the slide. Small trickles of dirt were still falling several hours after the slide and the entire area could be unstable, Meyers said.
All evacuees are being referred to the New Life Fellowship Church, 2441 42nd Ave., Longview.
“It sounded like a bomb,” neighbor Lois Miller said of the landslide, which knocked out power and telephone service to the area. “I couldn’t help but hear it.”
Jared Heilman watched the hill come down in horrified disbelief from the corner of Burcham and Fourth — just moments after strapping 2-year-old Logan into his truck.
“I turned and saw the entire hill coming down and power lines exploding — it was like Mount St. Helens blowing up,” Heilman said, still agitated about an hour after the slide. “I couldn’t get my son out in time, so I jumped in the truck, threw it in reverse and got out of there.”
Once safely parked at Huntington Middle School, Heilman ran back and knocked on an elderly neighbor’s home to alert her of the danger as well. He didn’t approach the Melcher’s home but was relieved to hear they also were O.K.
Marc Melcher isn’t sure if his insurance covers the landslide and wasn’t sure Thursday morning where he’d stay for the time being. Family members were on scene helping, including Marc Melcher’s mother, Bev Poage, who evacuated from Brook Hollow Mobile Home Park Wednesday night due to worries of flooding in South Kelso.
“It’s not a good day,” a weary Poage said after hugging her son and grandson.
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