Class Title: Unknown

Department of Transportation

2/17/1986

Special Service Award (Silver)

On February 17, 1986, in the midst of a violent mountain rainstorm, a major landslide covered the east and westbound lanes of Interstate 80 near Floriston above the Truckee River. A second landslide swept a car with a family of five inside, 200 feet down a steep embankment. The three teenaged sons were able to make their way out of the crushed vehicle and up to the highway, but the parents count not climb the steep hillside. In the heavy rain and strong wind, California Highway Patrol Sergeant Bergquist maneuvered his way through the slide area, despite the imminent danger of more earth movement. Assisted by the husband and Caltrans employee Gregory McKurtis, they were able to push and carry the exhausted woman up to the roadway less than 30 minutes before a third and still larger rock slide came down just 100 feet east of where the couple had been stranded.