The winding caves that tunnel under the city of St. Paul tempt many a would-be explorer. But city officials have one urgent message: Don't even think about it.
After three first-responder dispatches to the caves in the last month and a half alone, the city's Fire Department is once again asking people to stay away from them. It is illegal to enter them, and the Fire Department has sealed off many of the entrances with blocks of concrete or fences for safety purposes, said St. Paul Fire Department spokesman Roy Mokosso.
"When [people] do these sorts of things, they risk injury, and they also risk injury to potential folks that will probably be dispatched to respond to their emergency," Mokosso said.
More than 30 teenagers were escorted out of a cave in Crosby Farm Regional Park on Friday after a member of the group worried that their friends were in the cave too long and called 911, Mokosso said. No one was injured, but 28 firefighters responded, he said. The Fire Department was also dispatched a few hours later to S. Mississippi River Boulevard to undergo a technical rescue.
The caves are dangerous, Mokosso said, because of poor ventilation and carbon monoxide gas, in addition to poor visibility and uneven terrain.
Although the department has tried to barricade all cave entrances, the soft sandstone surrounding them is easy to penetrate, said deputy chief Steve Sampson.
"Unfortunately, the will of some of these urban explorers surpasses the ability to essentially prevent them from coming in," Sampson said. Rainstorms and weather can also create new, hard-to-find cave entries, he said.
The Fire Department is dispatched to the caves four to five times a year, Mokosso said. There is no cellphone service in the caves, which makes it impossible to call for help within them.
