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DRAPER — Owners of one of the two homes in the Hidden Canyon Estates that slid down the hillside Saturday said they've lost more than just their home.
"We kept hoping it wasn't going to end up like this," Carole Kamradt said.
"I visualized a lot of things for our lives in this home and they were all wonderful and beautiful. And looking at this now, it's a nightmare," she said. "But there are worse things that could've happened, and so that's what I have to concentrate on."
Carole Kamradt said she feels very sad and wishes she could retrieve the scrapbooks and photo albums that were once stored in her office, and now lie along the hillside in the wreckage.
"A lot of grief and remorse of the things lost. And hope now that it's over, we can move forward and find another dream," she said.
The Kamradts lived in the house less than a year before they had to leave, but the house had started showing damage just two months after they moved in. The couple hasn't been allowed back inside their home since November when they were forced to evacuate.
"It was just mind-blowing," Eric Kamradt said of Saturday's slide. He said they're now "sort of at a loss. What do you do?"
The homes — located at 2463 and 2477 E. Springtime Road — had been evacuated in October after the city's building official issued a notice revoking certificates of occupancy. The notice declared the homes unfit for habitation due to dangerous conditions, a statement from Draper said.
Draper fire Chief Clint Smith said the surrounding area was being assessed for sliding risk.
The two houses that slide had already been under observation and in an area of concern, where the city was waiting to see what happens after settling issues were more complicated with spring runoff, Smith said.
"The conditions were related to earth shifting that resulted in sliding and breaks in the homes' foundations," Draper officials said in a statement Saturday. "Engineers, building officials and public safety personnel are on site and have determined that two additional homes, one on each side of the previously evacuated homes, need to be evacuated. The residents of these homes have been notified and are evacuating."
A video posted on Instagram shows the entire top floor of a house sliding backwards and breaking off, falling to the popular Ann's Trail below. Draper officials announced Ann's Trail and the nearby Clark's Trail were closed to the public and that people should avoid the area, including Springtime Road, altogether.
The homes were built by Edge Homes, a company recently under fire for building the "unlivable" homes due to sliding soil. Draper has followed up with the developers for months, on engineering studies regarding the stability of the surrounding area, the city's statement said.
"With the snowpack melting and creating changes in conditions, other homes in the neighborhood will be evaluated for safety concerns," Draper officials said.
A statement from Edge said early reports indicate heavily saturated soils and subsurface earth movement contributed to the collapse.
"Edge has been working closely with Draper City and professional engineers to monitor these homes since they were evacuated, but due to record snowfall and winter conditions, efforts to stabilize and repair the homes were put on hold until after the spring runoff," the developer's statement said. The homes are now unsalvageable.
Edge said it bought back one of the homes in January for an "acceptable price." The developers are working with the owners of the second home to find a resolution.
"From the outset of the concerns with these two homes, Edge has remained fully committed to fairly compensating the homeowners for the inconvenience and disruption they have experienced. We stand by our products and take care of our buyers even when problems arise from circumstances outside of our control," Edge Homes said.
