PROVO — Duncan and Zlata Peterson are grateful they decided not to invest in Y mountain property.
The two returned from work Thursday night to find a giant car-size boulder resting in the front flower bed after it crashed through their leased home's adjacent chateau.
The 6-by-7-foot boulder — along with at least a dozen others — broke off far up Y mountain and came crashing down about 5 p.m. Most of the boulders ended up getting lodged in trees along the way.
However, the largest one gained enough momentum during its roll down the hillside to smash through the small chateau and dent the brick driveway before nestling itself among pine tree branches like a landscaping addition to the yard.
The Petersons have been leasing and living in the home next to the chateau since August 2004. Their lease is set to expire in August, and just last Friday the couple informed the owners they had decided against buying the home.
Despite the destruction, the couple said they're optimistic about the turn of events.
"This is the best time," Zlata Peterson said. "I think it's great . . . mother nature taking care (of a problem)."
The chateau had been scheduled for destruction in a few months because of a boundary dispute. Now, the clean-up rests on the owners' shoulders.
The house itself wasn't damaged, except for a small nudge where the roof of the chateau bumped against the roof of the house.
Although falling rocks are not unusual along Provo's east bench, this particular boulder was out of the ordinary in size.
"I've been in the department 28 years, (and I've) never seen something like this," said Provo Fire Chief Coy Porter. "We know there's rock fall that occurs, but usually it just doesn't make it all the way down to residents."
The damage is estimated at $50,000, but Brent Tew, captain of Provo's Fire Station 2, said it wasn't too much of a loss since the small addition was already scheduled for destruction.
The 911 call alerting emergency crews came from a neighbor who said he saw and heard the rock coming down.
Apparently it sounded like gunshots from far away; at least, that's what BYU student Josh Campbell said. He came up soon after the fall to investigate, and he said it sounded like gunshots from where he was on the Brigham Young University campus at the time of the slide. Campbell said he and some friends heard the loud noises and looked up to see the movement.
"When you see a huge part of the mountain coming down, you know something's not right," he said.
Neighbors also gathered to see the cause of the damage, and one neighbor said he couldn't imagine the rock coming all the way from beyond the snow line.
"It just makes me think there's more up there," said Ed Teal, who lives directly across the street from where the rock settled. "I think we'll get a hotel tonight."
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