Forest Service may install emergency telephone near Ice Caves

VERLOT - When the Big Four Ice Caves collapsed on July 6th, eyewitnesses had to run more than a mile down a trail, and drive another 14.5 miles to the nearest phone to call for help.

There is no cell phone service in area near the caves, located in the Mount Baker - Snoqualmie National Forest, the Herald of Everett reported.

The deadly accident killed one woman, Annalisa Santana, of Moreno Valley, California, and injured five other people.

Now, the Forest Service hopes to shorten the distance to reach help in an emergency by nine miles, by installing a land-line telephone to call 9-1-1 from Camp Silverton, the paper reported.

"That would save a lot of time," Adrienne Hall, manager of the Verlot ranger station told the Herald. "This is an extremely rural area and even our public safety radio coverage is sparse in that mountainous region," Mills said.

The phone at the Silverton campground would not require any money for 9-1-1 calls, the Herald reported. The phone would also help with other emergencies, such as hiking injuries or traffic accidents, the paper reported.