A snowboarder triggered a destructive avalanche late Friday afternoon in Missoula, Montana, uprooting a home and . Mount Jumbo was reportedly primed for a slide after a hefty snow followed an unseasonably warm period. Triggered near the summit, the avalanche rifled through the Rattlesnake Valley neighborhood, burying an eight-year-old boy and two adults. All three were rescued alive.
The young boy, Phoenix Coburn, was reportedly playing in the street with his sister when the avalanche struck at speeds well over 110 mph. After nearly an hour, Phoenix was found buried under several feet of snow between a fence and one of the homes. The boy was immediately taken to the hospital, where he remains in fair condition. Phoenix鈥檚 sister was also hit by the avalanche .
More than an hour after the slide, 66-year-old Fred Allendorf, a retired professor from the University of Montana, was extracted from his destroyed home. It wasn鈥檛 until three hours after the avalanche that Allendorf鈥檚 wife, Michel Colville, was found and rescued from a small air pocket in the debris. Allendorf and Colville are in serious and critical condition, respectively, in nearby St. Patrick Hospital.聽
Many attribute the successful rescue effort to the . After realizing what had happened, many of the skiers and snowboarders in the community immediately grabbed their shovels and probes and began digging and searching for survivors.
Officials interviewed and later released a group of snowboarders above the slide. Authorities have yet to confirm the cause of the avalanche, but one聽聽and was able to escape before it gathered speed.
UPDATE: Michel Colville died Monday morning .