Hinsdale County Sheriff Justin Casey To Relocate Somewhere With Less Snow After Avalanche Destroys Home
LAKE CITY, Colo. (CBS4)- A sheriff in southwestern Colorado who survived an avalanche is relocating. Hinsdale County Sheriff Justin Casey said he's ready to move to a new area, one with less snow.
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It was before dawn on March 12 in Hinsdale County when the family, Casey and his two daughters, Sara and Kristy, were sleeping in their home near Lake City. The avalanche started in the mountains above their home and came crashing down off Hinsdale County Road 30.
It was the beginning of an historic avalanche event in the area of southwest Colorado often considered a peaceful, small town mountain retreat. At least a dozen homes were urged to voluntarily evacuate along Bluff Street in Lake City and other hillsides after that slide took out the Casey home.
The avalanche destroyed the home, splintering it into pieces and burying the family under feet of household items, furniture, trees, mountain debris and packed snow.
In his resignation letter, Casey acknowledged that the slide has take a toll on his life. He plans to move somewhere with less snow, or at least, "where the snow doesn't move so much."