Blast closes canyon

Paul Crespin, manager of track maintenance for Union Pacific Railroad, has been working on the line for 34 years and said he had never seen anything like this accident.

"It's not good," he said after returning from the blast site. "Not good at all."

Construction crews were on the way up the canyon by early evening with the goal of opening the road by this weekend, said Brent Wilhite, Utah Department of Transportation spokesman.

"Our number 1 goal is to make sure the area is safe," he said. "We will work around the clock to get this road open ASAP."

UDOT will use its emergency funds to repair the road, but once everything is fixed, Wilhite said, there will be talks with the company's insurance group about restitution.

However, construction crews will not just be focusing on clearing, refilling and repaving the road. They also must create support for the side of the mountain.

The blast shaved the mountainside, sending car-size boulders down on the road, and ignited several small fires.

On top of the mountain, the blast also knocked down three power poles, disturbing phone service for the surrounding area. Scofield was the largest town affected.

Helicopters circled the area Wednesday afternoon, giving county crews a different look at the devastation. UHP pilot Steve Rugg had recently returned from serving as a pilot in Afghanistan and said this damage was incredible, much more damaging than anything he saw during the war.

"I never saw bomb craters as big as that one," he said.

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Contributing: Wendy Leonard

E-mail: sisraelsen@desnews.com; twalch@desnews.com; lhancock@desnews.com