MAMMOTH LAKES, Calif. (AP) - Three members of a ski patrol team died Thursday when they plunged into a volcanic fissure at the Mammoth Mountain resort, a resort spokeswoman said. Four patrol members were inspecting the mountain after heavy snowstorms, fencing off the gap in the rock, when they fell 21 feet into the volcanic vent.
Spokeswoman Joani Lynch said one of the patrol members survived the accident on the 11,053-foot peak in the Eastern Sierra.
Rescue efforts were conducted by other ski patrol members and local firefighters and paramedics.
None of the victims' names were immediately released.
The mountain, about a six-hour drive north of Los Angeles, is popular with skiers from Southern California. The peak towers over a dramatic landscape in a volcanically active region.
The region has been quiet of volcanic activity for six years, said Dave Hill, a scientist with the U.S. Geological Survey in Menlo Park.
The accident was not related to any volcanic activity, he said.
