Community gathers for remembrance ceremony one year after Oso landslide

OSO, Wash. -- It was a frigid morning near the town of Oso, where hundreds of people gathered on Sunday to honor the dozens of lives that were taken in a massive mudslide there one year ago.

Some in the crowd wept as a bell was rung 43 times – once for each life lost.

On March 22, 2014, a hillside gave way in a quiet neighborhood near Steelhead Drive, sweeping across the Stillaguamish River and Highway 530 before coming to rest nearly a mile away.

In the year since, the communities of Arlington, Darrington, and Oso have grown stronger and more resilient, yet some still struggle to come to terms with what happened.

“It’s been a trying year. Everybody has been dealing with it in their own way,” said Dennis Fenstermaker, the chief of Darrington Fire District 24.

Fenstermaker helped lead search and rescue efforts in the days immediately following the slide. He said he still thinks about the disaster “100 times a day.”

“I’ve been a firefighter a long time and this is the biggest event I’ve ever been involved in,” he said. “It has drawn us together in a way that no other event has probably done.”

Among those who attended Sunday’s remembrance ceremony were family members of those who died, first responders, and dignitaries – including Washington Governor Jay Inslee.

A moment of silence was held at 10:37 a.m., the exact time the slide occurred last year.

An American flag at the base of the site was raised in honor of those who died. The flag has flown there for the past twelve months, but had always stood at half-staff.

“We’re going to go on after today,” said Lt. Richard Burke with the Bellevue Fire Department, who spoke at the ceremony.

Burke helped with efforts in the early days of the slide response.

“Desert Storm, 23 years in the fire service, and I was so overwhelmed with the compassion that was being expressed throughout this community,” he said. “Not one time in the entire time that I was here did I hear people ask, ‘What about me?’”

Highway 530 was closed for roughly three hours while the ceremony took place. A private service was held for family members earlier on in the day.