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About Illinois Valley news. (Cave City, Oregon) 1937-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 24, 2007)
Illinois Valley News, Cave Junction, OR Wednesday, January 24, 2007 Page 9 Interview with Kati Kim provides insight to incident Pat McCarty (left) is among artists who have discovered their talents and found support through the Southern Ore- gon Artists Guild. The or- ganization’s site in Kerby includes several displays featuring members’ work such as hats from Forest Edge Farm, and dolls. (Photos by ‘IVN’) Artists Guild a catalyst ... (Continued from page 1) very beneficial to all gallery owners and participants,” Work said. He continued that the addition of more galleries ultimately would result in further economic development for the region. “A rising tide raises all boats in this harbor,” noted Work. “If we collectively in- crease the tourist trade and the economic trade for the area, we’ll be increasing the standard of living, which will be beneficial to every- one,” he concluded. For more information regarding the guild, visit southernoregonguild.org. No ‘finger of blame’ ... (Continued from page 2) “Access to records needs to be improved, and curriculum on techniques for how to use the technol- ogy needs to be developed.” Also complicating search efforts was the rough, mountainous terrain around the Bear Camp Road area. Evinger said that the road system is “incredibly con- fusing.” The reported noted, “A vast network of hundreds of miles of county, Bureau of Land Management and For- est Service roads and road spurs, paved and unpaved, many of which overlap, in- tersect, or are called some- thing different by the locals, cover this area.” Several statewide issues also were identified, includ- ing an overall lack of fund- ing for SAR operations. “There is certainly a need for dedicated funding and better coordination among units,” the report said. “Dedicated funding must be a priority for our leaders.” The report also cites “limited radio communica- tions between the field teams and the Command Center,” and said that “phone communications into the Command Center were inadequate. “Outfitting a command post with additional phone lines and using SAR com- munication resources could have alleviated these prob- lems,” the report said. During the press confer- ence, Gilbertson praised the efforts of search volunteers, saying that they “truly put their hearts and souls into the search.” Gilbertson said that the OSSA report provided a “litany of things” that could be fixed, and that he wants local counties to develop a regional management sys- tem for such emergency situations. Evinger said that de- spite flaws in the current system, no one factor was to blame for Kim’s death. “I don’t think there was a single event … that would have changed the result of the search,” Evinger said. “(The report is) about lessons learned,” Evinger said. “It’s about how we can do our jobs better.” Developers on defense ... (Continued from page 1) properties to the project, and that individual property own- ers were paid up to tens of thousands of dollars for right-of-way acquisitions. “We’re going beyond what we’re asking other peo- ple to do,” Miller said. “We took yet another risk for this to go.” Jerry Miller, owner of Wild River Brewing & Pizza Co., said that existing busi- nesses won’t benefit from the project as much as develop- ers will. Marion Nichols said that he is reluctant to accept the LID and its related costs. “I’ve lived right there (25895 Redwood Hwy.) for 21 years, and it won’t help me one bit,” Nichols said. “The 17 property owners along Redwood Hwy. … are stuck with it.” Carolyn Fosmore urged council members to consider the potential financial burden that the LID may put on home owners. Councilor Russell Ehr- man expressed concern that some residents may feel the financial pinch of the LID. “The consequences are what I’m concerned about, really,” Ehrman said. “I want to make sure people aren’t adversely affected.” Developer Dan Hughes said that if the LID is ap- proved, “We pay 68 percent, and that figure is $2.5 mil- lion. We’re not getting a free ride here,” Hughes said. Councilor Margaret Miller moved for adoption. “There are more issues here that need to be hashed out in a different setting,” she said. “We do need to let this process go through.” Councilor Dan Fiske seconded her motion, which passed with a 5-0 vote. Following is an edited transcript of Klamath County Sheriff Tim Evinger’s interview with Kati Kim. The couple made their reservation at a lodge near Gold Beach while traveling south from Portland. Kati remembers that it was ap- proximately 5 p.m. when they left Portland. Kati and her husband, James, saw no indication that the roads to the coast from Merlin were not being traveled. There were several indicators that led them to the opposite conclusion. The Kims stopped at a service station in Merlin after exiting Interstate 5. After missing their exit (to the coast) near Roseburg, they pulled out an Oregon map in their car that showed a straight shot to the coast (from the Merlin area). James went into the service station with his map to ob- tain clarifications about di- rections while Kati stayed in the Saab with the girls. James came back frus- trated. He thought that the attendant gave “strange di- rections” and that the man was acting as though he did- n’t understand what James was asking. Kati felt that (the attendant) definitely didn’t communicate that it was a dangerous route. The Kims continued toward the coast following their map and the road signs. At first, it was very dark, but the weather was dry and not even raining for the first part of their trip. Kati recalled seeing a snow- plow parked along the road as they continued and made a mental note that the road must be a maintained one. She also noticed that the road was narrowing and thought that it might be challenging to pass an on- coming car with the amount of space available. They continued following small signs that directed them to the “coast.” A short time later, they made a turn that went “up,” and noticed a sign that read, “Road May be Blocked by Snowdrifts 6 Miles Ahead.” Kati advised that this was the first indication that the roads they were on are not traveled as they initially felt. At nearly the same mo- ment that they started past the sign, it began snowing and they ran across snow on the road. James wanted to turn around, but Kati thought it too dangerous given how narrow the road was combined with the darkness and the steep sides. Both James and Kati noticed tire tracks in the snow, but could not tell if they were fresh. She was certain that they were going to be headed down the coastal side of the range any minute, but then they went across a hill that took them up into more snow. James opened the driver’s door of the car and carefully backed down the road to the intersection be- low the warning sign. It was at this point that the Kims attempted to reach 911 on all three cell phones they were carrying. They were unable to get a signal on any of them. It was starting to snow harder so they decided to Water Wells Pump Sales Installation Service 592-6777 1470 Caves Highway Licensed • Bonded • Insured Locally owned and operated in the valley for over 25 years. WWC #1504 • CCB #152266 • CPl #7-113 Member Oregon Ground Water Assoc. take the road that went lower. Thinking that the lower road would get them out of the snow zone, they continued. The road became so narrow that turning around became more diffi- cult. The paved road turned to gravel. The Kims initially took the road up to the left, backed down in the snow and then took the lower road down to the right. Both are paved at this point. At about 2 a.m., the couple knew that they were definitely disoriented and chose to park at a “T” inter- section. They thought that there was a good chance that a snow plow might arrive during the night or in the morning. When they awoke, it was raining. They knew that to get back out, they would have to go up through the snow zone. In the distance, they could hear a noise that they presumed to be snowplows. They later realized that it was the sound of the Rogue River. They used more of the remaining fuel in the car to stay warm. They used the heater and turned on the heated seats. Weighing the fact that they would have to travel back up in altitude and that they were lost in a maze of roads, they chose to remain stationary and conserve the remaining gasoline for heat. They were confident that a ranger would be along soon. They found an open gate near where they had parked. In crayon, James wrote a note that read: “Low on Gas, Low on Food, 2 Babies.” They put the note in a Ziploc bag and stuck it in the gate. The Kims awoke Mon- day morning, Nov. 27, to heavy snowfall. Kati de- scribed the snowfall as hav- ing “bent the tree branches nearly to the ground.” She told of her survival plan that she made as soon as they knew they were lost for an extended period. She planned on having the food in the car last for two weeks, even if it meant “one mouth- ful a day.” In fact, Kati stated that there was some rice cereal left when they were rescued. She put snow in bottles and warmed them in the sun for drinking water, and she breast-fed the two girls. She also related the three rules that she and James agreed on while at the car: No get- ting wet, no getting hurt, no getting sick. The couple moved all their belongings to the front seat and laid the seats down in the rear of the car. They were all able to sleep to- gether, keep each other warm and sleep more com- fortably than on the seats. The Kims were able to hear a radio station they thought was from Seattle. The Kims then worked on putting out signs and signals near their car. They would walk to the open gate to check on it about five times a day, and they stomped out “SOS” in the snow. They thought of who might report them missing and worried about those back home who counted on them. Kati and James also honked the car horn often and yelled for help. Four days after getting lost and eventually snow- bound, the couple was studying the Oregon map in their car. They noticed “a tiny box” in the corner that had the message: “Not all Roads Advisable, Check Weather Conditions.” Kati went to college in Eugene and was reflecting on a drive between Eugene and Florence on the Oregon coast. She believed that the route to the coast they took on this trip would have simi- lar terrain. This route was significantly more moun- tainous and the road much narrower than she expected. The car completely used its rationed gas by Thurs- day, Nov. 30. Kati related that by this time, James was keeping a fire going daily. They decided to take the spare tire and burn it on their warming fire in hopes of signaling help. James punctured the tire and put in onto the fire. The smoke was black, but the trees were tall enough that the smoke seemed to dissipate before it got above them. On Friday, Dec. 1, the pair decided to build a big- ger blaze and burn more tires to again try to gain at- tention. They first took two tires off the car and realized a good deal of black smoke. They then increased their effort by putting the other two tires on the fire, as well as finding anything “caustic” in the car to burn to cause black smoke. Kati walked down the road to view the plume. She said that this time it was getting above the trees and might be visible to someone. She stated, “If they won’t come save us, maybe they will come save their forest,” referring to the rang- ers who still had not come by. The Kims were still ex- pecting someone to arrive in a four-wheel-drive vehicle “anytime.” The signal fire had just “fizzled” when Kati and James heard a helicopter. He frantically tried to relight the fire, hoping that those in the helicopter might see it. It was so damp and wet that he couldn’t get the blaze going again. Kati describes that after- noon, near dark about 4:30, as one of the toughest mo- ments of their ordeal. 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