A snowboarder triggered the avalanche that buried three people in a residential neighborhood of Missoula, Mont., investigators said Saturday. The West Central Montana Avalanche Center said the incident was caused when a snowboarder in a restricted area near the top of Mount Jumbo disturbed a layer of packed snow resting on looser snow beneath it. An 8-year-old boy, Phoenix Scoles was hospitalized and two adults were in critical condition after an avalanche tumbled and destroyed a house. Two of the victims, identified as Fred Allendorf and his wife, Michel Jo Colville, remain in critical condition, St. Patrick Hospital told NBC News. After over a three-hour rescue effort, coordinator Jeremiah Petersen said, "It's a miracle anyone was pulled out alive," describing a scene of "utter chaos and complete devastation."
