Avalanche cannon ready for canyon

PROVO — The Utah Department of Transportation is preparing to resume using a cannon for avalanche control in Provo Canyon and believes it can do so this time without shelling any neighborhoods.

Last March 23, an errant 105mm Howitzer round went over a hill and into the back yard of Lori and Scott Connors' Pleasant Grove home.

The explosion sent shrapnel through their house, damaging the homes of several neighbors and leaving a gaping crater in their yard.

But no one was wounded.

Lori Connors said the experience still frightens her and her 4-year-old son.

"When he says his prayers at night he says, 'Please don't let a bomb hit our house,' " she said.

He also asks whether shrapnel can penetrate brick and if they can live in a brick house.

The Army shell was pre-packed with seven bags of propellent, and the avalanche safety workers, on a mountaintop just south of Sundance, were supposed to remove two of those bags before firing. The round was supposed to go less than 4,000 yards but instead flew about 9,000 yards.

The loader was blamed for failing to remove two of those bags, and the assistant gunner for failing to keep watch on the loader and confirm the shell was packed with the proper amount of explosive, according to UDOT.

"What we found wasn't a breakdown in procedure but a breakdown of the human element of the procedure," UDOT spokesman Tom Hudachko said.

As a result of the investigation's findings, the gunner supervisor that day was taken off of the avalanche control unit.

Hudachko said procedures have been beefed up to ensure greater oversight during each firing.

Because workers often use the guns in bad weather, a new shelter has been constructed at the firing site so that gunners' full concentration can be on their job.

The department did a dry firing exercise last week to test new procedures.