Scuba-diving brothers who also were best friends drown in an underground siphon in Lehi

Salt Lake Tribune ^ | 10.3.03 | Michael N. Westley

[mhking]

Double tragedy: Scuba-diving brothers who also were best friends drown in an underground siphon in Lehi

Family and friends of Ashton and Byron Hobbs grieve after Utah County Search and Rescue recovered their bodies. The two brothers drowned Wednesday night while scuba diving inside an irrigation tunnel in Lehi. (Trent Nelson/The Salt Lake Tribune)



Members of Utah County Search and Rescue work near a tunnel in an irrigation canal in Lehi where brothers Ashton and Byron Hobbs drowned Wednesday night while scuba diving. (Trent Nelson/The Salt Lake Tribune)

By Michael N. Westley
The Salt Lake Tribune

    Ashton and Byron "B.J." Hobbs were brothers and best friends who family members say did everything together. On Wednesday, the brothers died together.
    Ignoring a warning from their father that a dive through the underground Dry Creek Siphon of Lehi's Murdock Canal would be dangerous, the men set off around 8 p.m. for what would be the last of their many adventures, according to Sgt. Spencer Cannon of the Utah County Sheriff's Office.
    "They called their father and said to check on them if they weren't back in a couple of hours," Cannon said. Both of the brothers lived in Utah County.
    The siphon, which starts about two blocks south of the Micron facility in Lehi, is an irrigation tunnel which channels water across a ravine that is about 1,200 feet wide.
    The siphon allows the water to continue across changing elevations by pulling the water out the other side. The concrete tube -- 9 feet in diameter -- runs down the sides of the ravine at various angles to a depth of 96 feet and crosses the ravine floor.
    By 1 a.m. Thursday, search and rescue teams had arrived at the north end of the siphon to assess the conditions of the water and the possibilities of a rescue. None of the divers, some with more than 20 years experience, were willing to enter the siphon until it was drained. The water at that time had about three feet of visibility and was about 60 degrees, according to search and rescue member Kevin Dickerson.
    After taking more than eight hours to drain, search crews entered the empty siphon around 10 a.m. and found the bodies of Ashton, 23, and B.J., 21, several hundred feet from the entrance and about 150 feet apart from each other, Dickerson said, noting that their gear appeared to be older.
    "To do this safely, you would have to have a complete back-up system," said Chris Reed of Utah County Search and Rescue. Reed said the brothers' dive would classify as a cave dive requiring two sets of breathing equipment for each diver, extra lighting and a rope system to use as a guide.
    There were no immediate clues as to why the men did not make it out of the siphon, police said. The bodies were sent to the Salt Lake Medical Examiner's Office.
    Cannon said that although there is a grate protecting the south end of the siphon, it would be possible to exit there. Police were unsure whether or not the men knew about the grate at the other side or whether they may have made it to the end and turned back.
    "It was a deep dive which brings with it all sorts of inherent dangers," said Cannon.
    Reed explained that even though the men were swimming in 9 feet of water, the pressure from the water on the ascending sides of the siphon make the conditions the same as diving in 100 feet of open water.
    That pressure further compresses the air divers breathe from a back-mounted tank and would allow a typical diver to stay at that depth for only about 15 minutes.
    Police said that at least two other deaths are associated with the open portion of the canal which is a popular place to swim during the summer, despite clearly-marked warnings of the danger and posted "no trespassing" signs, said Cannon.
    Friends and family gathered at the south end of the siphon, which sits in the middle of a field of tall, dry grass and watched with grief as the bodies of the brothers were pulled out of the tunnel.
    "They lived for adventure. That's what they did," said Andrew Stewart, one of the brothers' 47 cousins. "They were the two greatest kids in the world."
    "Family always came first to them," said Kevin Stewart, Andrew's brother, adding the men were avid outdoorsmen and loved soccer, hiking, fishing and mountain climbing.
    The Hobbs brothers leave behind their parents, two sisters and a brother as well as a large extended family.
    Ashton would have celebrated his one year wedding anniversary to his wife Tami today, and leaves behind a 7-month-old son, Tiegan.
    "They would go to the ends of the earth for you. Boys like those Hobbs boys are rare," said friend Shauna Walker. "But they're somewhere better than here and we'll see them again."

[poundsand]

This is not cave diving. It may be classified as such, but it is not. I am a diver and grew up with one of these near by. The water is running very strong, and there is all kinds of debris that ends up stuck in them. They pulled 9 vehicles out of the one near our home one year.

When ever some unfortunately and normally drunk soul was lost in it, the rescue divers would never go in. They always drained it as well, too easy to get fouled by debris or tangled up with your rescue line. Believe it or not, we had someone actually time the passage of water, and then jump in while attempting to hold their breath.

[Prodigal Son]

Believe it or not, we had someone actually time the passage of water, and then jump in while attempting to hold their breath.

They didn't make it did they?

[glock rocks]

Thanks for the ping, tubebender.

This happened just over the hill from my work. sad.

[JonathansMommie]

Just Awful.

[hopespringseternal]

A I know a lot of divers who do some really silly stuff.

That is why I said competent divers would know better.

I agree with you. Diving is something that requires a level head. Just throwing on the gear and jumping in the water without thinking will eventually kill you. Adventurism (doing wacky dives just to say you did it) will kill you a lot sooner.

[Guillermo]

"Family always came first to them,"

LIAR! If that was true, they never would have done something so stupid.

Ashton would have celebrated his one year wedding anniversary to his wife Tami today, and leaves behind a 7-month-old son, Tiegan.

What a selfish bastard!

[Guillermo]

They pulled 9 vehicles out of the one near our home one year.

Was this in Massachusetts? Was Teddy driving these cars?

[Xenalyte]

Damn, dude, that's funny!

[PJ-Comix]

They just had an interesting PBS documentary about cave diving in Florida. It was about the underground aquafirs in Florida. They filter the water naturally until they are crystal clear. And during the shooting of the documentary, one of the female cavedivers had trouble with her air supply leaking. Fortunately, she had help but there are numerous cave diving deaths in Florida.

Far better is to simply FLOAT on the beautiful crystal clear springs in North Florida. You just go with a group in innner tubes and have inner tubes with netting filled with beers to drink along the way. Then you float for miles down the streams. Much safer than cave diving.

[lawgirl]

I feel sorry for the 7 month old child. People that want to be adventurers need to think twice if they have a family to provide for. Let's hope he had life insurance.

[BabsC]

What a selfish bastard!

I agree, my husband and I do vertical caving, and he does other adventurous things but if we had children all of this activity would be curtailed until the kids were able to join us.

If someone has kids they should not take risks that would leave them without a parent.

Of course my husband is such a safety nut now I can just imagine if he had his own kids with him. We are adventurous but we do it with the right equipment and safety procedures.

Once while caving one of our friends picked on my husband the whole way to the cave about his amount of equipment and how he was so meticalous about it's condition. Needless to say my husband's equipment and procedures is what got this nut out of the cave.

[Ready4Freddy]

"This is not cave diving. It may be classified as such, but it is not."

A distinction w/o a difference, I think. The similarities far outweigh the differences (which are???? The siphon has smoother walls made of concrete?).

[hemogoblin]

[Robert A Cook PE]

Faster speed of the water.

Nothing to see except round concrete walls going by.

It'd be like spelunking blindfolded through a traffic tunnel at midnight when they're washing the walls. Sure, you could do it, but why even bother?

[TFMcGuire]

I can believe that!

Right behind working the midnight shift at a convenience store.

My yougest brother did some cave-diving. he went through spaces so narrow he had to remove his tank and squeeze through while holding it in his hand.

Just the thought almost breaks me into a cold sweat, Kat.