Lawsuit announced in Snohomish County ice fatality
EVERETT, Wash. - A Tacoma law firm called a news conference Tuesday to announce a lawsuit in the death of Grace Tam, a Marysville girl killed by falling ice in July 2010 at the Big Four Ice Caves east of Granite Falls.
The suit claims the U.S. Forest Service failed to maintain danger signs warning people of the risks of collapsing ice, snow and unstable caves along the trail.
"Unfortunately, the Forest Service took no steps to warn people of the dangers that this snow poses to visitors," said attorney James McCormick with the firm Messina Bulzomi Christensen. "It is our hope that the Forest Service will improve safety in the area so that no other families have to suffer what the Tam family’s been through."
The 11-year-old was on a family outing when a block of ice the size of a pickup truck broke loose and slid into where she was sitting with her mother, some distance from the caves.
The family said it stayed off the ice at the popular hiking destination in the Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest.
"The ice caves are in a dangerous avalanche zone," McCormick said. "They are unstable. Snow and ice crumbles throughout the summer and other people have been hurt up there before Grace was killed."
The suit claims when the Forest Service replaced the bridge over the Stillaguamish River in 2009, it failed to replace signs warning visitors of dangerous risks in the area and there were no warning signs on the trail the day Grace was killed.
McCormick says the signs were reposted after Grace's death, but say "don’t go inside or on top of ice caves."
"The warnings are completely inadequate for the type of dangers that you face up there," McCormick said. "They don’t give you any idea of what a safe zone is. They don’t tell you anything about snow crumbling, avalanches. This is something that the Forest Service is aware of and they know about it and they just haven’t done anything to let people know what kind of dangers they’re facing up there."
John Tam, Grace's father, says he misses coming home to her.
"I miss her... every day," he said. "I miss the way I usually tell Gracie I love her. I come up to her and I pet her hair. I can’t do that anymore."
He tearfully said her life was taken much too soon.
"She got cheated out of life. I mean, she’s only 11 years old!" he said. "She should have finished school, fallen in love, had kids... and had grandchildren. This is not the normal."
McCormick says any financial damages will be decided by federal judge.
"When you advertise a trail as a family-friendly, disabled-accessible trail, where you invite people into an inherently dangerous area, you need to warn them about it," he said.
Forest spokesman Kelly Sprute said it doesn't comment on ongoing litigation.
The suit claims the U.S. Forest Service failed to maintain danger signs warning people of the risks of collapsing ice, snow and unstable caves along the trail.
"Unfortunately, the Forest Service took no steps to warn people of the dangers that this snow poses to visitors," said attorney James McCormick with the firm Messina Bulzomi Christensen. "It is our hope that the Forest Service will improve safety in the area so that no other families have to suffer what the Tam family’s been through."
The 11-year-old was on a family outing when a block of ice the size of a pickup truck broke loose and slid into where she was sitting with her mother, some distance from the caves.
The family said it stayed off the ice at the popular hiking destination in the Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest.
"The ice caves are in a dangerous avalanche zone," McCormick said. "They are unstable. Snow and ice crumbles throughout the summer and other people have been hurt up there before Grace was killed."
The suit claims when the Forest Service replaced the bridge over the Stillaguamish River in 2009, it failed to replace signs warning visitors of dangerous risks in the area and there were no warning signs on the trail the day Grace was killed.
McCormick says the signs were reposted after Grace's death, but say "don’t go inside or on top of ice caves."
"The warnings are completely inadequate for the type of dangers that you face up there," McCormick said. "They don’t give you any idea of what a safe zone is. They don’t tell you anything about snow crumbling, avalanches. This is something that the Forest Service is aware of and they know about it and they just haven’t done anything to let people know what kind of dangers they’re facing up there."
John Tam, Grace's father, says he misses coming home to her.
"I miss her... every day," he said. "I miss the way I usually tell Gracie I love her. I come up to her and I pet her hair. I can’t do that anymore."
He tearfully said her life was taken much too soon.
"She got cheated out of life. I mean, she’s only 11 years old!" he said. "She should have finished school, fallen in love, had kids... and had grandchildren. This is not the normal."
McCormick says any financial damages will be decided by federal judge.
"When you advertise a trail as a family-friendly, disabled-accessible trail, where you invite people into an inherently dangerous area, you need to warn them about it," he said.
Forest spokesman Kelly Sprute said it doesn't comment on ongoing litigation.
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