"A big chunk is coming down, big chunk, big chunk, big chunk" could be heard on another occasion before the order to "evacuate, evacuate, evacuate."

Firefighters temporarily called off the search because of the dangerous slide situation after the initial emergency calls.

Now four days later, the damage is nearly too difficult to imagine without actually seeing it.

"This is no longer a house with some dirt in it. This is a mountain of dirt with pieces of house in it," said Logan Fire Chief Mark Meaker.

Before the bodies were found, city officials took reporters to the dig area Tuesday morning to give them an idea of the scope of the operation and to answer questions about why the search was taking so long.

All that could be seen were piles of mud and dirt with some pieces of wood that appeared to be part of the house.

"It has the same force as a 747 crashing into the mountain," Logan Assistant Fire Chief Jeff Peterson said of the mud slamming into the house.

Searchers concentrated first on the back part of the house where the bedrooms were, because that is where family members said they spent most of their time.

"We are profoundly grateful," family spokesman Rolando Murillo said of all the rescue efforts and donations. His statement was made prior to the discovery of the bodies. "We ask God's blessings on all the rescue workers."

In a brief prepared statement read in both English and Spanish, Murillo said the family was making it through the tough times because of their faith in God. A trust fund has been set up for the family at all Wells Fargo banks. The account was opened by Rosa Rivera in memory of the Leavey-Alanis family.

As the recovery effort continued, so did the number of questions being raised as to who, if anyone, was to blame for the slide. Should residents have received more warning about the potential for a dangerous event?

In 2005, students of USU professor and geologist Robert Pack started a study of the hillside following another dangerous mudslide. That study, which found the hill was prone to yet another slide, focused on the hazards upslope from the canal and not the canal itself, Pack said.

What those conducting the study didn't anticipate, however, was movement below the canal, which is what geologists believed happened Saturday that triggered the chain of events.

"This event is different than anything that has happened in the past 100 years," Pack said. "The smoking gun is water. The jury is still out where the water came from."

The slide caused dirt to drop from under the canal, initiating the catastrophic mudslide that crashed into the homes below.

"The description of it exploding isn't too far from the truth," Pack said.

Logan received a copy of Pack's report late last year, Logan public works director Mark Nielsen said. The process of identifying homes at risk and what needed to be done about it had not yet begun, he said.

"(Residents) should have been warned by someone," Nielsen conceded Tuesday. But as to whose responsibility it was to do that, he said, was still under investigation.

Also Tuesday, Logan officials made a plea to residents to conserve water to help agricultural users affected by the destruction of the canal. Homeowners were encouraged to "deep soak" their lawns after 8 p.m. and before 8 a.m.

e-mail: preavy@desnews.com