Washington State Patrol trooper killed in Cascades avalanche KOMO News Staff UP NEXT
CLE ELUM, Wash. (KOMO) A veteran of the Washington State Patrol was killed during an avalanche in the Cascades Monday afternoon.
Trooper Steve Houle was riding snowmobiles with a friend in the French Cabin Creek area just before 1 p.m. when the avalanche occurred, according to the Kittitas County Sheriff s Office.
Both men were overtaken by the snow as it hit near the Knox Creek Trailhead. The friend was able to dig himself out and made his way back to the French Cabin Creek snopark to call for help. Search and rescue crews spent hours looking for Houle, eventually finding the 51-year-old trooper s body around 7 p.m.
A Washington state trooper was killed in an avalanche while snowmobiling, officials say
Search-and-rescue crews recovered trooper Steve Houle, 51, of Cle Elum from the avalanche. He was a 28-year veteran of the Washington State Patrol, the Kittitas County Sheriff’s Office said in the release.
He is at least the 15th person to die in an avalanche in little more than a week. The first seven days of the month marked a record for the deadliest week of US avalanches.
“On behalf of the Sheriff’s Office, I would like to extend our deepest condolences to Trooper Houle’s family, friends and the Washington State Patrol,” Sheriff Clay Myers said. “This is a tragic accident and will be felt hard in our close-knit law enforcement community.”