KHTS Radio Santa Clarita Radio – Santa Clarita News
The Saint Francis Dam Disaster’s 90th anniversary is being remembered by the Santa Clarita Valley, along with other cities affected by the collapse.
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On March 12, 1928, three minutes before midnight, the Saint Francis Dam broke, and sent a wall of water down San Francisquito Canyon through Castaic Junction, Santa Clarita, Piru, Camulos, Bardsdale, Fillmore, Santa Paula and Ventura before emptying into the Pacific Ocean between Oxnard and Ventura. The dam collapse created a 55-mile path of death and destruction.
The St. Francis Dam’s failure is considered to be one of the worst American civil engineering disasters of the 20th century and remains the second-greatest loss of life in California history, after the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake.
“In March 2018, the communities along the flood path will commemorate the 90th anniversary of the St. Francis Dam Disaster,” according to a Santa Clarita press release. “There will be numerous opportunities in Santa Clarita, Piru, Camulos, Bardsdale, Fillmore, Santa Paula and Ventura to help understand the causes of the disaster, honor the dead, commemorate the survivors and reflect on the response and resiliency of the communities that were impacted.”
Congressman Steve Knight, R-Santa Clarita, is still working with staff to get a memorial monument built for the victims of the St. Francis Dam Disaster.
“Congressman Knight and his staff are still actively working on getting this bill through to passage,” said Chris Jusuf, a spokesman for Knight. “We are working with other House offices as well as Senator Harris’s office.”
Related: St Francis Dam Disaster Remembered By Santa Clarita Residents
To commemorate the anniversary, the annual St. Francis Dam lecture and bus tour is scheduled to start at 11 a.m. at the Saugus Train Station in Heritage Junction, located at 24101 Newhall Avenue.
From 11 a.m. to 12 p.m., Dr. Alan Pollack and Dianne Erskine-Hellrigel are set to present a PowerPoint on the dam at the Saugus Train Station freight room.
Following that, at 12 p.m. a Q&A session is scheduled with Pollack, Erskine-Hellrigel and dam expert Frank Rock.
A bus tour to the dam site is set to follow. The St. Francis Dam tour shows visitors the site of where the failed dam once stood.
“We will hike to the Tombstone ruins, the Western Wing Dyke, the Pyramid formation, Block 16, and visit Powerhouse 2,” according to event organizers.
Tickets cost $40 online, but will be $45 at the door. Tickets are available here.
To see a full list of activities around the Santa Clarita Valley and the other cities affected by the disaster, click here.
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