Heavy snowstorms contributed to an avalanche that knocked out power to the town of Ophir Jan. 18, according to the San Miguel Sheriff’s Office.
The avalanche ran across Ophir Road and buried power delivery infrastructure around 11:30 a.m., according to Facebook posts from the Sheriff’s Office and San Miguel Power Association. The road was closed from the intersection with Colorado Highway 145.
There were no reported injuries.
Agencies, including the San Miguel County Road and Bridge Department, worked to clear snow and debris. Power line crews worked to restore power through load switching procedures.
Power to the core of Ophir was restored by 3:30 p.m. Jan. 18, according to a San Miguel Power Association Facebook post.
During the outage residents of Ophir were advised to shelter in place during the outage by the Sheriff’s Office.
Emergency crews estimated that the avalanche debris was 20 feet deep and covered 150 to 200 yards of Ophir Road. Foot traffic was allowed over the slide, the sheriff said.
Ophir Road was cleared and reopened on Jan. 19 at 5:15 p.m., according to the Sheriff’s Office.
Another outage on Jan. 18 affected Rico and Trout Lake residents. San Miguel Power Association crews identified where a tree had fallen on the lines and power was restored about 7 p.m.
