What it’s like on the Oso mudslide debris field
Mar 27, 2014, 12:17 PM | Updated: 12:50 pm
He was supposed to take Wednesday off to rest, but Travis Hots spent the day out on the debris field learning more about what his search team is up against.
The Chief of Snohomish County Fire District 21 said no photo or video can begin to portray what’s happening at the site of the Oso mudslide. With a wavering voice, Hots said Thursday morning he was told over and over that he wouldn’t understand until he was out there.
“It’s unreal.”
Hots said there are clay balls the size of ambulances that have rolled down the hill and smashed everything in their path.
“There’s so much mud and muck and debris.”
Hots is in awe of the volunteers who’ve cut up and used donated sheets of plywood to build a network of pathways across the mud.
Just like the photos show, the area is like a swamp, said Hots. He said big machinery would simply disappear in the muck.
Despite the waist deep mud and increasing rain, Hots said he was impressed by the level of professionalism and respect the searchers have for loved ones buried in the mud.
He recalled a situation Wednesday where a team found a body in a car about 200 feet off of Highway 530. The team spent several hours and a lunch break trying to get in there to make a recovery.
“They just kept digging and they did not stop until the person was removed,” said Hots. “When the person is removed, things kind of get somber out there. It gets really quiet for a few minutes. You can almost hear a pin drop. You see seasoned veterans in this business – they start to tear up, their eyes get glassy.”
Hots said he’s so impressed with the dignity his searchers are showing people’s loved ones out there. And while the reality of the situation is sinking in, he said he’ll continue looking for survivors.
“My heart is telling me that I’m not giving up yet…We’re going at this full steam ahead. In my book, it doesn’t matter. We’re not changing gears. We’re not changing the pace of this,” said Hots. “We’re going to exhaust all options to try to find somebody alive. All of these resources we’ve had here since Saturday – if we just find one more person that’s alive – to me, that’s worth it.”
