By Patric Hedlund, Gary Meyer, Pam Sturdevant and community reporters

A group of neighbors were planning to enjoy the first day of spring by celebrating the spring equinox in a sunny forest meadow at the base of Mount Pinos. But the first hour of Sunday, March 20 began with massive wind gusts—some reported at 85 miles per hour.

Before dawn several inches of snow had fallen on the Mountain Communities. By 10 a.m. the sun seemed to have given up the battle. Skies went dark. At 10:30 a.m. six people were injured in a headon crash on Frazier Mountain Park Road in Lebec.

A wet and heavy snow fell for over 12 hours, ushering in spring with what some say was the most damaging storm in 15 years. The spring equinox celebration was cancelled early in the morning. The sun wouldn’t return for another two days.

The heavy snow load took down trees, which brought down power lines, decks and parts of houses in Pine Mountain, Piñon Pines, Lockwood Valley, Lake of the Woods and Frazier Park.

Southern California Edison said 4,650 homes lost power.

Cars spun into ditches. Some had to be abandoned, buried in snowbanks. Search and Rescue was called when a car carrying three people toward another equinox ceremony in the western end of Lockwood Valley was swept away by swift water rushing through Reyes Creek. Ventura County sheriff’s deputies and California Highway Patrol reported at 2:39 p.m. that the group was able to make it to higher ground while ambulance and fire personnel were still blocked by road conditions, unable to get to the location. Friends later reported that the three passengers had escaped through a car window when the car came to rest against a creek bank.

Campers Stranded

Plows appeared to be slow to react during the first critical hours of the storm, and then couldn’t keep up. By Sunday noon, main roads were treacherous and secondary roads were choked with snow. Where plowing had occurred, family cars were often blockaded behind berms the size of small mountains. Members of the area’s only Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) contacted by The Mountain Enterprise said many of them would not be able to get out of their homes.

In most areas, those with land lines were able to maintain phone contact. Those with cell phones found that an AT&T tower seemed to be out for the Lockwood Valley area. In Pinon Pines falling trees, wind and snow had taken down some telephone lines.

In Pine Mountain, a woman who had fought cancer valiantly for years finally succumbed. No assistance would be able to reach her husband for over 24 hours.

At the same time, about 80 campers at the Mil Potrero Boy Scout Camp west of Pine Mountain and another 80 visitors at the Bethel in the Hills Camp in Cuddy Valley—about 160 young people and counselors— discovered they could not leave for home Sunday afternoon as they had planned. The roads had become impassable. Both groups decided to try to wait out the storm without heat and with little food left. Counselors from the Boy Scout Camp walked six miles through the blowing snow to get food from the Pine Mountain General Store for the hungry teenagers back at the camp.

Grapevine Closed

At 7 p.m. conditions on Interstate 5 over the Grapevine brought traffic to a halt. Cars idled bumper to bumper in the snow, clogging even the on-ramps with cars unable to move. Those who were able to escape into Lebec flocked to the Motel 6 that had just opened five days earlier, filling every room. Power was still on in most parts of Lebec, except where falling trees had taken down the lines.

Monday Rescues and Tragedy

On Monday morning, as the storm subsided, a resident of Frazier Park called at 7:30 a.m. to report he had found the body of a young man in the snow on the edge of his property.

The Mountain Enterprise placed a news item on its website to ask the community to assist in identifying the youth. The newspaper maintained a steady stream of updates throughout the storm. Residents and relatives outside of the area who still had power kept informed by watching the website and calling snowed-in friends and family on the mountain to read them the updates.

Residents became frustrated by the recorded message on SCE’s status lines. One media information coordinator told The Mountain Enterprise they planned to send a helicopter to try to chart all the power poles that had fallen in inaccessible areas. Gradually, Southern California Edison (SCE) workers began appearing around the mountain.

Search and Rescue was called in to help coordinate a caravan of deputies and firefighters led by a Pine Mountain Club Property Owners Association plow. It dug a path to the home in Pine Mountain where the grieving husband was waiting for assistance to transport his wife’s body to the mortuary.

A joint agency operation was coordinated to evacuate the visitors in the Cuddy Valley Bethel in the Hills and Mil Potrero Boy Scout campgrounds. [See photo essay on the evacuation]

With power still out, the Mil Potrero Mutual Water Company’s backup generators were running low on fuel. The electric gas pumps at the PMCPOA clubhouse were down, as were those at the Pine Mountain Auto Center. Manager Steve Wierneke decided to conserve his last bit of fuel and cut off the generators powering the pumps that supply water to the Pine Mountain community. Wierneke’s intention was to have his staff telephone all water customers to alert them to be ready to store water reserves. He planned to run the pumps for a final four hours so they could do that. At the last moment, the PMCPOA linked their master generator to the maintenance yard fuel pumps, making it possible for the water company to resume pumping to provide normal water distribution.

Sad News

Kern County Sheriff’s Sergeant Mark Brown received word that the parents of David Reed Duncan, 18 believed that it was the body of their son that had been found. The word spread rapidly. David was a popular young man, active in the Mormon community, a former Junior Falcon program participant. By Tuesday the Kern County Coroner issued an official confirmation. They said there was no sign of trauma or foul play. Family friends said they were told hypothermia was a cause. The coroner will issue no final cause until all tests are complete.

On Monday night SCE contractors began to appear on the mountain in force. A caravan of equipment took the night shift in Lockwood Valley. Residents of Pinon Pines, Cuddy Creek, Lockwood Valley and Pine Mountain began sending photos to The Mountain Enterprise of fallen power lines in their areas so that SCE might allocate resources to come help them.

Tuesday to Thursday

Gradually, blown transformers were fixed and SCE began re-establishing service lines. By Tuesday, around noon, lights were coming back up in parts of Frazier Park. Several hours later some sections of Pine Mountain regained power. But Southern California Edison notified Kern County there would still be many residents without heat and lights that night. The Red Cross and Kern County Emergency Services teamed up to open a shelter over at Frazier Mountain High School, to host those wishing to stay warm. Unfortunately, many of those in need of such comfort were still unable to get their cars out of snow-barricaded drives.

By Tuesday night the musical group Bandit was playing at La Sierra Restaurant’s Taco Night. Storm-weary residents who could walk or drive came for a few hours of fun.

By Wednesday, hundreds of utility customers were still waiting, often wondering what to do with spoiling food. SCE said some areas might have to wait until Friday to see normal service restored. On Thursday morning, SCE reported that over 100 mountain residents were still without power. Spots in Pinon Pines, Pine Mountain and Lockwood Valley all reported homes without electricity. Telephone outages were still being reported in Lockwood Valley and Pinon Pines.

UPDATE—FRAZIER PARK, PINON PINES, LOCKWOOD VALLEY, CUDDY VALLEY, LAKE OF THE WOODS, PINE MOUNTAIN (Friday, March 25, 2011 at 9 a.m.)—Southern California Edison media relations personnel reported that the power was restored to all homes in their service areas in the Frazier Mountain Communities  by 6:30 p.m. Thursday, March 24—five days after the first lights had gone out. Phone service is still reported to be out for many with cell phones.

This is part of the March 25, 2011 online edition of The Mountain Enterprise.

Have an opinion on this matter? We'd like to hear from you.