Voices from the frontlines of Sitka's landslide recovery effort

Recovery crews halt work while a trained cadaver dog scents the site where the body of 62-year-old William Stortz is thought to be located. A previous dog alerted at the location of the green stake in the center of the image. (KCAW photo, Robert Woolsey)

Recovery crews continue work this week to recover the remains of the third and final victim of the Kramer Avenue landslide, one of seven landslides that came down in Sitka on August 18. (KCAW photo, Robert Woolsey)

Downloadable audio.

Coordinators of Sitka’s landslide response and relief effort gathered in the KCAW studios this morning (08-25-15), both to recount the events since the August 18 landslides and relay immediate needs. Chief Dave Miller of the Sitka Fire Department was joined by Major Turnie Wright, the minister with the local Salvation Army post, and Samantha Cox, a moderator on the Facebook website Sitka Chatters.

This information in this interview was provided at 8:30 a.m. on Tuesday, August 25. Raven Radio will provide updates about the recovery effort on local news.

Miller is looking for volunteers to man the two road blocks at the two ends of Kramer Avenue this week. Each shift requires 2-3 volunteers. To volunteer, call 747-3233. Miller said Harbor Mountain road remains closed above the first gate at the bottom the hill.

The Incident Management Team will continue searching into Thursday evening for the third and final missing person within the debris from the Kramer Avenue landslide. Another weather pattern is expected to hit the Sitka area Thursday night.

Cox said that the Sitka Chatters Emergency Fund has raised $14,000 for the families of the three men lost in the landslide. The website has served as a forum for sharing information in the days following the slide, coordinating fundraising efforts and shelter for residents evacuated in the slide zone.

Wright shared a list of items needed now by the Salvation Army to feed emergency workers on-site and at the Fire Department.