Family Of Four Dies In Sinkhole After Yard Silently Liquefies

OTTAWA -- Richard Prefontaine and his wife, Lynne Charbonneau, were watching a playoff hockey game with their two daughters on Monday night when the ground beneath their house gave way suddenly and without warning. The house’s bright green metal roof was all that was visible the next day in a vast mud crater near the village of St. Jude, Quebec, about 50 miles northeast of Montreal. The landslide created a hole 100 feet deep, 300 yards wide and a third of a mile long. The family's remains were found huddled together on a couch by the television, with rescuers discovering only their golden retriever, tied to a tree, alive. On Wednesday, officials allowed residents of several nearby houses to return home. But the family's shocking demise was a stark reminder of a hidden menace under many parts of Quebec, one that dates back 10,000 years to an ancient inland sea. Michel A. Bouchard, a professor of geology at the University of Montreal, said the area around St. Jude rests on an unusual variety of "sensitive clay" that was originally the bed of an ancient sea. Lake Champlain is a remnant of the sea. Because the clay formed in salt water, Professor Bouchard said, the molecular structure of its particles resembles playing cards arranged as an unstable house of cards, rather than stacked in a deck, as occurs with clay formed in fresh water. A variety of events can break the molecular bonds holding the clay particles together. When that occurs, the clay can spontaneously liquefy with little or no provocation. "Even a fly landing on the surface can set it off," he said. The landslide took place so quickly and silently on Monday night that many neighbors could not understand why their electricity and water supply had been disrupted. The collapse removed a large section of road, sending a pickup truck into the crater. It took the injured driver about an hour to crawl to safety. Deadly or disruptive landslides involving the clay, sometimes known as Leda clay, take place occasionally in Quebec and eastern Ontario. In 1971, 31 people died and 40 houses were destroyed by a landslide in St.-Jean Vianney, Quebec. The town of Lemieux, Ontario, east of Ottawa, was relocated in 1991 after officials became concerned about the stability of the clay underneath the town. Two years later, a landslide consumed 42 acres near Lemieux's former location.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/13/world/americas/13canada.html



• Why would they tie their dog to a tree? What''s the point of living in the country and having a dog if you''re just going to tim him/her to a tree.\ \ Thank God the dog lived and hopefully he/she will be put with a family who actually loves and cares for it.

• kewl!

• Death by silent liquification?

  Only in Canada

• Now THAT is an insatiable bottom!

• But what was on their ipods?

• Sink Into Me by Taking Back Sunday

• R1 I hope you are kidding, if not, you need to get yourself over a sinkhole, QUICK!

• r6, you must be the mother of the band''s singer.

• How awful

• Leave it. In 2000 years that will make a popular tourist attraction.

  Pompeii

• R1 is why I genuinely loathe some pet owners.

• I know just how that sinkhole feels. Just one person is never enough.

  Dawson

• I love R10

• I agree with R1.\ It''s loathsome to leave your dog tied a tree outside all day.

• What a bizarre way to begin an episode of "The Simpsons."

• "sometimes known as Leda clay"\ \ You just know this stuff is going to end up at high-end spas.\ \ \ R14, no one will ever know why it was tied, but for that to be one''s first thought after reading that story is why I cannot stand people obsessed with animals. It''s like listening to a frau.

  R11

• I agree "R1" and "R14" Here in the United States most counties and cities have ordinances against tying a dog to a tree for an extended length of time. Everyone who is for tying up a dog should be required to be tied up themselves to a tree for extended periods. My constant companion and best friend was a Golden Retriever who lived a long and happy life. I only tied him up when he and I were on a long walk and I had to stop at a store.

• I had a friend who tied her dog to a tree, and she died in a sinkhole.

• Perhaps the dog was on a dog run that was tied to a tree because they had no fence. \ And r4 - you are sick funny in the best DL tradition.

• Well, R17, the sinkhole did you one better. An entire family is now dead. I''m sure it was karma. \ \ Unbelievable.

  R11

• Got me to thinking about my now long dead Golden. We used to take long walks together when I got home from work. Part of our walking circuit was enroute to a "Pets Smart Store." This was the high point of our walk. I would take him in the store, which as you probably guessed by the name, was very pet friendly and encouraged pet owners to bring their pet's inside (Leashed of course). My Golden's favorite activity was watching the fish swim around in the giant salt water aquarium that was in the store. He never bothered the fish...he would just sit quielty hypnotized by all of the creatures swimming by. My pet was normally well behaved and responded quite well to commands...except when it was time to leave the store. He would whine and cry and refuse to budge from his view of the "Ocean." I would leave him unattended for up to 30 minutes as I did my shopping (With the store manager's permission). Damn, I miss him and after 15 years since his death, I still get tears in my eyes thinking about our friendship. God bless you Laddie; rest in peace old friend.

• Talk about surprise sinkhole.

• r21, get some help.

• Told you I was hardcore.

  Sinkhole

• I didn''t know Cheryl lived in Ottawa.

• R21, how in the world does this story remind you of your dead dog?

• How do they know what the family was watching on television?

• Actually, R24, you''re pretty softcore. That was the problem.

• "R27" the authorities knew because the males were holding on to their hockey sticks as the female was waiting for a puck.

• Theres was the only house where the game went into sudden death over slime.

• [quote]I didn''t know Cheryl lived in Ottawa.\ \ This happened in St. Jude, Quebec. Not Ottawa.\ \ Although Ottawa does have more than its fair share of large gaping holes.

• [quote]Although Ottawa does have more than its fair share of large gaping holes.\ \ \ I resent that remark!

  Stephen Harper

• I wonder if the dog could have warned the family had it been inside with the family? Animals sense stuff like that happening, don''t they?

• i agree with r1

  pet lover

• You''re correct r33. Perhaps the dog had "issues" with the family.

• I''m also with R1, and I feel bad for R21 because my yellow lab X died 18 months ago and I''m still not over it.

• It would be freaky to be sitting in your house, and then suddenly the ground gives way underneath. If they were huddled on the couch, I assume they didn''t have time to move.\ \ How were they killed exactly? Was the house flooded with liquified clay, suffocating them? If that''s the case, I''m surprised they were still on the couch, and that the rescuers were able to recover their bodies so quickly.

• Some animal lovers are loathsome human beings. Being glad an entire family, including two children are dead, because they tied their dog to a tree, disturbs me greatly.

• Oh Christ - not the children shit again. \ \ \ I mean seriously, who are these assholes that keep posting about horrid events that are far worse because children were involved?\ \ \ You know, 16 people could die in a tornado but they''ll focus on the one kid that stubbed their toe that day.

• the family''s neglect and mistreatment of the dog saved its life. Hopefully he''ll get a second chance.

• {quote]seriously, who are these assholes that keep posting about horrid events that are far worse because children were involved?\ \ Most adults view childhood as a time of innocence. Tragedies are magnified when they happen to the innocent.

  Captain Obvious

• R21''s narcissism is larger than the sinkhole.

• [quote]How do they know what the family was watching on television?\ \ What else would they have been watching?

• Oh please, the only way to make this even funnier is to imagine the kids wearing clown costumes.\ \ I would consider myself lucky to meet my fate by being swallowed by a giant sink hole. While sitting on a couch watching television. In Canada.

• R11 and R42 beat me to it. \ \ It ain''t Primetime killing DL.

• that sucks.

• EDITOR! Please F&F R25. And then you know what to do...

  Cheryl

• iPod\ \ "Slip Sliding Away" - Paul Simon\ \ "Once in a Lifetime" - Talking Heads (..under the rocks and stones... there is water underground)\ \ "Down, Down, Down,- Tom Waits\ \ "High Speed Dirt" - Megadeth\ \ "Falling Off the Edge of the World" - Black sabbath\ \ "Free Falling" - Tom Petty \ \ "I Can''t Stand Up For Falling Down" - Elvis Costello \ \ "Sinking Feeling" - Roisin Murphy\ \ "The Sinking Song" - Kevin kane\ \ "Slippin and Slidin" - Little Richard\ \ "Slippin away" - Rolling Stones

• "...and Ladies and Gentlemen, that little Golden Retriever, left cruelly tied to a tree, grew up to be PRESIDENT of this great country!!!!"

• Why would anyone build a house on land like this? Isn''t there a way to tell that the land isn''t stable enough to build a house on it?

• I wonder what that old lesbian with the cracks in her new concrete thinks of this.

• [Burp.]

  Sinkhole.

• r38, show me where any of us say we''re glad the family is dead.

  r1

• The whole state of Florida is going to do that. Soon.

• So what set off the earth? Did they all jump up because their team scored a goal?

• r54, I live in Florida. What do you mean it''s going to happen here soon. I mean I know there are a lot of karst areas......

• I know that some of the jokes on this thread are funny, but sorry, I think this is a really sad story. What an awful way for people to die.

• This sounds like a SyFy movie waiting to happen. Surely the sad tied-up dog summoned the subterranean animal demigods to open their maws and create the sinkhole.\ \ Bad pet owners! Be aware your animal companions are in touch with powers beyond your imagination!\ \ (SINKHOLE II: THE DAY OF THE ABANDONED CATS coming in September)

  with all apologies and respect to the real life family

• Look out, R56! It's starting!

  Run%20for%20the%20%28granite%29%20hills%20

• This part of Canada is also a seismic zone. A magnitude 6 quake would be devastating.

• Do you think they knew what was happening? (Sorry, I have no comments about the dog).

• No where in the article does it say the dog was tied up for long periods of time.

• [quote]Why would they tie their dog to a tree? What's the point of living in the country and having a dog if you're just going to tim him/her to a tree. Thank God the dog lived and hopefully he/she will be put with a family who actually loves and cares for it. I'll take the dog. Everyone knows you don't tie a dog to tree! You tie it to the roof of your car.

  M. Romney

• How do they know what they were watching?

• How did you remember that someone on here predicted that this would happen in Florida???!!

• The sinkhole was HUGE (300 yards long and a 1/3 mile wide), and yet a dog tied to a tree survives? Where was this tree? In Montreal?

• So then that's even worse, God only knows where the dog was tied. It could have been really far away,.. geez,..some people's kids!~

• When you live in the country, if you have a dog that sometimes likes to wander, you have to tie it up because if you'll notice, city people and people in the suburbs have fences but country people don't. A well trained doggie won't mind if it's not for long, and you keep an eye out to make sure it doesn't get tangled. And if you go outside, you untie it so it can be with you. It's not torture for the dog. But this - "My constant companion and best friend was a Golden Retriever" - Good god, Gert, get a grip.

• I think someone in that house flushed the toilet too hard!

• R58, please don't give them any ideas!

• How did they get their two daughters onto a couch to watch hockey?

• [quote] Thank God the dog lived and hopefully he/she will be put with a family who actually loves and cares for it. This thread and the story at OP's link are 3 years old. I'm sure that unlike DL, the dog has moved on.

• This sounds exactly like the first 3 minutes of an episode of Bones- and will probably be ripped from the headlines for a Law and Order. I assume they had cable and the company knows what channel their box was tuned to. (Insert Cheryl Joke)

• [quote] How did they get their two daughters onto a couch to watch hockey? They were Canadians, for gawd's sake. It's a given. Their house wasn't completely swallowed. Unfortunately for the family, they watched tv in the basement. OOPS.

• I remember a few years ago when a little boy in Florida was swallowed-up by a sinkhole, his last words were, "There's snakes down here!" *shudders*