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State highway officials are working to clear a landslide that shut down Oregon 224 in both directions about eight miles southeast of Estacada.

(Oregon Department of Transportation)

ESTACADA – A landslide has shut down Oregon 224 southeast of Estacada, sending area residents and logging crews on a long detour until further notice.

Nobody was injured in the slide, which dumped an estimated 30 to 50 cubic yards of rock and soil on the highway.

Kimberly Dinwiddie, Oregon Department of Transportation spokeswoman, said the slide at Milepost 31 was reported to state highway officials around 2:30 p.m. She said the slide occurred where the 36 Pit Fire earlier this fall burned bare more than 5,520 acres of steep, densely forested slopes above the highway, which runs along the south bank of the Clackamas River.

"This is exactly what we feared," Dinwiddie said. "The slopes were unstable due to the vegetation that was burned, leaving nothing to hold the soil in place. We knew it was a matter of time before a major slide occurred."

The slide, about eight miles southeast of Estacada, effectively closes the highway to all traffic between Milepost 31 and Milepost 37. Since the fire, highway crews had been escorting workers and area residents with valid identification through that stretch with pilot vehicles during daylight hours.

"But now, a lot of people are cut off indefinitely," Dinwiddie said. "The highway will remain closed until all hazards are addressed."

Dinwiddie said ODOT geologists are headed to the area to assess the danger of additional slides. She said no one yet knows when the highway will be reopened.

Three small communities are directly affected by the slide. A small group of U.S. Forest Service employees lives around Ripplebrook. Another small community, mainly Portland General Electric employees, is clustered at Three Lynx. The Timber Lake Job Corps Civilian Conservation Center also is affected.

Dinwiddie said the residents, as well as loggers working in the area, now are forced to take Forest Service Road 57 to U.S. 26 – a 1½-hour detour.

"The people who live in the area already have been coping with disruptions," Dinwiddie said. "We really appreciate their patience."

-- Rick Bella