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Open threatsDeserted mines pose grave danger to desert explorersMegan Blaney, Staff Writer CALICO - On the day 6-year-old River Lasley saw his father fall 60 feet to his death in an abandoned mine shaft, he expressed one prayer:Please don't let it happen to anyone else. But it did. Just one week later, another man plummeted down the same shaft. Trevor Montgomery survived but suffered critical injuries and is paralyzed.In a tearful phone call, River's mother, 37-year-old Kris Lasley of Vista, recounted the boy's ordeal at the mine."Why weren't there any signs?" the child asked would-be rescuers. And are you "going to close it up so nobody else will fall?"The incidents illuminated a major problem throughout the state that has no easy solution 12,000 abandoned mines pepper San Bernardino County alone with no feasible way to close them all.Attempts by state and federal agencies to close the more dangerous mines are ongoing, but only a fraction of a percent is closed each year. Mines exist on both private and public property, and vandalism makes boundaries vague.Officials say the onus is on people who visit the desert. Avoid them entirely. Families vacationing nearby must balance a natural curiosity to explore the historical sites with a healthy dose of common sense and caution."Just don't go near them," said Sgt. Doug Hubbard, of the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department. "Every mine is dangerous. Every single one."The mine the men fell in is not hard to find. A spray-painted arrow on a rock points to its entrance. It lies directly off a well-traveled trail that starts at the Calico Ghost Town campground, winds up and down the mountainside and eventually dead-ends in a canyon that has at least four other large mines within sight of the trail.The land is owned by Pan American Silver Corp. of Vancouver, British Columbia. Rob Doyle, its chief financial officer, said by phone that his company intended to close the mines on the property last summer, but a study revealed a rare species of bat is living in the mines, delaying the project.Dangerous attraction The Mojave Desert is an attractive destination for campers and aspiring adventurers, but it can quickly turn deadly. It has harsh elements and a deceiving landscape, and its unassuming land features can hold deadly creatures or crumbling rocks. "Thousands of people come here annually," Hubbard said. "They come from a different environment and are totally unprepared." Lasley and Montgomery were camping with their families at Calico Ghost Town a former Old West mining town that has attractions featuring its mining history."We were just out camping," Kris Lasley said. "We had no idea how dangerous it was."River and his father, 41-year-old Kenneth Albert "Rusty" Lasley, who managed his own backhoe company, hopped on their ATV quads on the morning of April 7 in search of an adventure."He was really excited about being there and exploring," Kris Lasley said of River.When they didn't return, she started to worry. She rode an ATV out to look for them but returned to the campground to wait.Father and son had ridden past a number of mines and stopped at one toward the end of the trail. They were on private property, but Kris Lasley said they were unaware of it.Rusty Lasley, who was 6-foot-5, walked about 90 feet into the shaft, stooping under the low rock ceiling."We think he just walked in and fell backwards, hitting his head," Hubbard said.After the fall there was only silence. The boy called to his father but received no answer, so River began his long trek down the steep mountainside for help.Back at the camp, a park ranger told Kris Lasley that her son was at a house in the valley."He rode to a house and told them his dad had fallen in a mine," Kris Lasley said. "He had ridden 2 miles by himself to try and get help."River had gone in search of a "mom with her kids" just like his parents had taught him to do if he got lost."He found a house with toys in the front yard and went to that door," Kris Lasley said. "I just thank God he turned around and didn't go down that hole after his dad."The family held a memorial service exactly one week after Rusty Lasley's fall.An arrow's lure As hundreds mourned Rusty Lasley in Vista, 34-year-old Hemet resident Trevor Montgomery and his daughter, Kaitlyn, were exploring the Calico Mountains on ATVs.They stumbled upon the same mine and ventured in. The 34-year-old father of nine said he thought it was a natural cave."I've never ever allowed my kids to go into real mines," he said. "There was just no way to see a mine shaft right in the middle of the cave. I literally just walked right into the hole.""They saw an arrow pointing to a cave," his wife, Robin Montgomery, 37, said. "There wasn't even a warning sign," she said. "I blame the property owners."Trevor Montgomery dared his 14-year-old daughter to touch the back wall, but she balked, Robin Montgomery said. "He said, `I'll go with you,' and he took three steps and fell," she said. "She (Kaitlyn) never would have survived that fall."Trevor Montgomery said he is thankful he fell instead of his daughter."I would literally have rather died than let her fall and live, because of everything I'm going through right now," he said.Now Robin and their children haunt the hallways of Loma Linda University Medical Center.Trevor Montgomery, a Riverside County sheriff's detective, is still in intensive care. He has undergone five surgeries, in which doctors removed bone shards from his lower back, replaced shattered vertebrae with prosthetic vertebrae, set a compound fracture in his left ankle and cleaned the rocks from his wounds."His back exploded," Robin Montgomery said.Trevor Montgomery is paralyzed from the waist down and said doctors do not know if it is permanent.When state and local officials were asked why they did not block off the mine after Rusty Lasley's fatal fall, Cy Oggins, manager of the Abandoned Mines Land Unit, a division of the state Department of Conservation, said it's against policy."I had someone less than an hour away who could have gone up and posted. It might have prevented a second incident," he said.Wide-open area Very few of the mines that honeycomb the mountains in the High Desert are marked or closed off. Some are so well hidden that officials don't even know about them, said Don Drysdale, a spokesman for the state Department of Conservation."If you dug a gold mine back in 1860, would you want anyone to know where it was?" Drysdale said.Officials said the only solution is for people to stay away from them entirely."They're frickin' everywhere," Hubbard said. "People think, `Oh, there's a road here, this must be Disneyland.' "Although the sheer volume makes it difficult to put signs on all the mines, the vandals make it futile."The minute you erect signage, it gets destroyed," Hubbard said, pointing out a piece of bullet-battered metal by the side of the trail a sign that had been rendered unreadable by target practice.The vast desert under Hubbard's jurisdiction is 10 times larger than Rhode Island."In L.A. or downtown San Bernardino, it's easy to fence in your 800-square-foot property," Hubbard said. "Fencing 10,000 square miles is not practical."Still, after the second man fell into the mine shaft, local volunteers barricaded the entrance with rocks. A handwritten warning on a thin strip of wood stretched across the opening cautions:"There is a vertical drop of at least 100 feet. One death April 7th 2006 and a major injury April 14th 2006. Danger Peligro."Hubbard doesn't think it will last long."I'm telling you this is not going to keep them out. It'll take a total destruction of the entrance," he said.Officials from the U.S. Bureau of Land Management and the state Department of Conservation are working together to close as many abandoned mines on government land as possible. The Abandoned Mines Land Unit has secured 42 mines in the past two years on a budget of $125,000 a year. This year they are working with $400,000 and expect to secure about 170 mine features, tunnels, outbuildings, shafts and structures by the end of the year.Out of 47,000 mines and about 150,000 features statewide, however, it's a drop in the bucket.Gold and silver Most of the mines throughout the state were dug during the gold rush that began in 1849.
"There was no regulation, no oversight. We weren't even a state," Drysdale said.In the Calico Mountains, miners struck silver in the late 19th century. Calico Town was one of the first mining camps in that era. The county tourist attraction and campground still has mines on its property, but all, except one that is checked daily, are off limits to visitors.The Calico Ghost Town Web site cautions, "No mine is stable or safe. Exploring mines is not recommended and may put you and others into a dangerous and life-threatening position."Many vertical shafts exist that you may fall into. Some mines are on private property and exploring these mines is trespassing."The mines in the Calico Mountain canyon have been idle for years. Pan American Silver Corp. acquired the land 11 years ago as part of the purchase of a functioning silver mine in Peru. The company's Web site boasts that the mining company produces more than 12.5 million ounces of silver every year and expects to become the world's largest primary silver producer by 2008."The company has not conducted any mining or exploration activity at the site since it was acquired," Doyle said."We were surprised that it was being accessed by the general public, given that it is private land."Robin Montgomery said she intends to start an awareness group to educate others about mine safety."It's not just yourself that is in danger . . . it's all the people who have to go in to save you," Hubbard said.Mine rescue is a specialized skill and requires at least a nine-member team.Because San Bernardino County is still training some members of its team, rescue teams from Kern County answered the calls for both the April 7 and 14 incidents, Hubbard said."We couldn't do it safely," he said. When the call came in that another man had fallen in the same shaft, the Kern team knew exactly what equipment was needed. San Bernardino County sheriff's helicopters airlifted them to the site."It was as though they had just trained for that rescue the week before," Hubbard said. "As tragic as the first incident was, it certainly expedited the second."Kris Lasley said she takes comfort in knowing that the rescue effort for her husband might have helped save Trevor Montgomery.Mine-rescue teams are staffed by volunteers, and both Kris Lasley and Robin Montgomery expressed their gratitude to them, the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department in Barstow and everyone who pitched in.Pan American Silver Corp is taking the situation "very seriously," Doyle said.The company is sending its director of health and safety to the site "as soon as possible" to "make sure this doesn't happen again," he said.Trevor Montgomery said it needs to be done immediately."If there's not reason for these things to be open, then destroy them that's what I would say to the owner," he said Monday from his hospital bed."I have broken legs, broken feet, broken ankles, a broken back," he said. "It sure was a large price to pay for what we thought was going to be a fun day."FYI:Donations should be sent to:Lasley Trust scholarship fund CoAmerica Bank9255 Town Center Drive, Suite 220San Diego, CA 92121 The Abandoned Mine Lands Unit, part of the state Department of Conservation, has launched a "Stay Out, Stay Alive" campaign. The toll-free number to report hazardous mines is 1-877-OLD MINE.
toyminator2000 – There has to be dumb people in order for there to be smart people
and why would someone go in a cave/mine with no light ??
Well, I crashed a motorcycle on a public highway doing probably 90mph, got knocked unconcious by a metal reflector post (which probably saved me from getting injured worse since I was unable to try to stop myself from tumbling/flipping) and went through a fence into somebody's cow field. So rather than do what I did, which was take full responsability and totally blame myself, by following society's line of thought I should have: first sued the road department for putting up that reflector post, how dare they try and warn night drivers there's a sharp corner there!, second sue the company that made the post, because after all, had they not made it I wouldn't have hit it and got a bad concussion!, and lastly sued the landowner for having the audacity to have a cow field next to the road, especially with a fence I probably hit on my way through? Yup, probably shoulda just done that rather than own up to my mistakes, it would've made more sense!
You missed the motorcycle company for making a motorcycle that can crash and one that will go 90mph.Wayne
you mean 157, but who's counting Yea, how could I have been so blind as to not sue them for making fast bikes and selling them to the public?! How dare they? I mean, who needs a 400lb motorcycle with 100hp? Heaven forbid if I bought a liter bike, 400 lb with 150hp! Then I'd REALLY have grounds to sue them! Funny side note, yamaha's new r6 is supposed to have a 16,000rpm redline I think, but tests have proved they're falling a few hundred rpm short despite the tach reading so, and enough people have complained that they're doing voluntary buy backs if you're not satisfied! The only people who are going to make a stink enough to have it bought back are the idiots that got in over their head to get the bike in the first place, and now want an easy out.
Rocksurfer You seem to know Calico very well. post when you are going again we may try to join you if we can.thanks wayne
I guess this means they'll be closing off more of the Calico area. My club will be going May, 19 through 21
I already did post our next trip there in my second post.
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Topic: Two Fall In Mineshaft Accidents At Calico (Read 14218 times)
