Your locally owned newspaper, serving North Bend and Snoqualmie, Washington
Local girl wins national golfing championship Page 10
May 1, 2014
Explosion levels part of North Bend
North Bend and Snoqualmie recognized as Tree City USA towns
By Sam Kenyon
Josephina Simms was asleep with her 2-year-old son when a natural gas explosion rocked North Bend at 3:40 a.m. April 25. “All of a sudden I heard this big boom and the building started shaking and car alarms started going off,” Simms said. “And my first thought was, ‘Oh my gosh, it’s an earthquake.’” Simms lives in the Mount Si Court Apartments, just across the street from the explosion. The Pizza Place and More, a restaurant where the explosion originated, was completely destroyed by the blast. Two nearby buildings, including a barbershop and beauty shop, were also destroyed by the explosion. The explosion was so powerful that multiple windows in the Simms apartment blew apart, leaving shattered glass throughout the home. The blast caused cracks in the walls, dislodged a bathroom sink from the wall and caused the toilet to start leaking. “We got coats and shoes on and went outside and watched the barbershop across the street that was completely engulfed in flames just burn to the ground basically,” Simms said. Firefighters from Eastside Fire & Rescue Station 87 in North Bend were the first to respond
By Sam Kenyon
An entry arch remains near the site of The Pizza Place, which was reduced to rubble by an early morning explosion. to the scene. Heavy smoke and “We don’t have any definite flames were visible from the sense right now of what may street and responders began have been the cause,” said Andy extinguishing the fires. Wappler, a spokesperson for Units from Wilderness Rim, PSE. Snoqualmie, PSE shut off “Everything was Fall City, gas service to Bellevue, the area and destroyed. I’m just glad Redmond, swept the scene to be alive. Everything Snoqualmie to make sure Pass Fire there were no else was just stuff.” Departments additional gas and other local — Kory Dean Khile leaks. They emergency perResident determined the sonnel, includexplosion did ing police, the not cause any city of North Bend staff and rep- further leaks. resentatives from Puget Sound “We’re confident that the sysEnergy, quickly arrived. tem here maintained integrity Since the explosion, and is safe for everyone to be PSE, Eastside Fire & Rescue, around,” Wappler said. Snoqualmie Police, ATF and the The incident initially left King County Sheriff’s Office 1,500 customers without power have been investigating the due to debris from the explosion scene of the blast. interfering with power lines. By
about 9 a.m. April 25, all but about 200 customers had power restored. By 1:30 p.m., with the wreckage still smoking, fewer than 100 customers were without power. Many of those customers remained without power because the explosion directly affected their residences. Lisa Brown lives in the apartment below the Simms family, and like all the residents of the Mount Si Court Apartments, has been without power since the explosion that occurred about 100 feet from her front door. “It was a truly terrorizing experience,” Brown said. Brown lives with her two daughters, Hailey, 14, and Lily, 6. Once she saw the fire across the street, she feared it would spread to the nearby gas station. See EXPLODE, Page 6
Hair stylists displaced by explosion re-open for business By Sherry Grindeland Shelley Gildersleeve already feels hopeful — despite losing all her supplies, tools of her trade and client information in the explosion that wiped out her hair salon April 25 in North Bend. Gildersleeve, along with Michelle Dunbar, operated Kutters Hair & Nail Salon. It was housed in one of the destroyed buildings on North Bend Way. But she was able to open for business again on April 29 in
Another Hair Place. “Beth Anderson called up and offered us space in her shop,” Gildersleeve said. “She was just one of so many wonderful people who have offered love and support.” By April 28, the hair stylist had replaced her basic supplies, thanks to gift certificates from friends. Another retired stylist donated her shears and cutting tools to Gildersleeve. For a small business such as Kutters, the explosion not only
wiped out the physical tools — it destroyed the stylists’ records. Hair stylists maintain lists of clients and their telephone numbers as well as upcoming appointments. Just as important, Gildersleeve said, were the client information files where she and Dunbar kept track of people’s permanents and hair-coloring formulas. It will be hard to rebuild their lists, Gildersleeve added. “So many people only have cellphones these days and no
home telephone numbers,” she said. “That makes it hard to contact them to tell them where we’re at.” Gildersleeve is having phone calls to the Kutters business number forwarded to her cellphone. Meanwhile, she said, she’s doing her best to spread word to her clients that she’s open for business. Sherry Grindeland can be reached at editor@ snovalleystar.com or 392-6434, ext. 246.
Both North Bend and Snoqualmie have been recognized and commended for being a Tree City USA by the Washington State Department of Natural Resources. The Arbor Day Foundation bestows the Tree City USA designation on cities throughout the country. A city needs to have either a tree board or a city department responsible for tree care and management, must have established a tree ordinance, spend at least $2 per capita on tree care and celebrate Arbor Day to qualify. Snoqualmie will celebrate Arbor Day on May 3. Arbor Day originated in Nebraska when a pioneer, J. Sterling Morton, organized a campaign to get settlers to plant trees. The open prairie was treeless and Morton knew trees would help stabilize soil, provide windbreaks and shade. The first Arbor Day was April 10, 1872. It became a state holiday and moved to April 22, Morton’s birthday, two years later. Eventually it was moved to the last Friday in April. It became a national holiday in 1970. Not all states celebrate Arbor Day on that day. The Arbor Day Foundation encourages each state to celebrate during its own prime tree planting period. Washington State’s official Arbor Day is the second Wednesday in April, which was April 9th this year. Even then, some cities choose to celebrate at other times. Snoqualmie, for instance, will celebrate Arbor Day at 10 a.m. May 3 in Railroad Park. North Bend celebrated Nov. 13, 2013 when North Bend’s Boy Scout Troop 466 and other community volunteers planted 12 Red Cascade See TREE, Page 2 Prsrt Std U.S. Postage PAID Kent, WA Permit No. 71 POSTAL CUSTOMER