Landslide victim identified as husband, father who was killed while out clearing stormwater drains

KETCHIKAN, Alaska (KTUU/Gray News) - A man who was killed by a massive landslide in Alaska Sunday has been identified by authorities.

Officials with the Ketchikan Gateway Borough said Sean Griffin was the victim of Sunday’s slide that left piles of debris on neighborhood roads in the Southeast Alaska town.

The borough said Griffin was a 17-year veteran of the City of Ketchikan Public works team. It also said he “spent his life serving his family and his community.”

“Sean was a beloved husband, father, son, neighbor, and coworker,” the borough said in a statement. “Sean was raised in Ketchikan and followed his mother into public service.”

The borough said Griffin was out clearing stormwater drains when the landslide came down.

“It was his commitment to the community that caused him to respond to the call for assistance during his scheduled time off,” the borough said.

Griffin’s neighbor, Rachelle Speights, said she remembers the moment the slide happened.

“I heard this huge rumble, and I was like, ‘What the heck was that?’ I went inside, and my power kept flickering on and off, on and off,” Speights said.

Speights said Ketchikan is full of people with hearts of gold, like the Griffins.

“I was injured in a serious accident, so driving up the dirt road has been hard, traumatizing for me. Sean and Sarah ended up getting gravel, and they smoothed it all out a week ago and everything, just for everybody,” she said. “They’re just — they have hearts of gold.”

The slide injured three other people, hospitalizing two of them, while also causing an untold amount of property damage after a stretch of brutally wet weather left the ground saturated.

Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy issued a disaster declaration shortly after the slide.

“In my 65 years in Ketchikan, I have never seen a slide of this magnitude,” wrote Ketchikan City Mayor Dave Kiffer.

The Ketchikan Borough School District also announced Monday morning that school would be canceled for Tuesday and Wednesday.

Ketchikan High School is being used as a place for displaced families. The school said 12 people were staying there as of Monday.

The city had earlier ordered evacuations for all residents in the area.

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