Anchorage Daily News

The Alaska Boy Scout leaders arrived at the pinnacle of scouting destinations, the national Jamboree, on Monday with reputations as cautious and experienced men.

Mike Shibe, 49: Technical know-how from his foreman's job at Alaska Communications Systems. At Jamboree with his twin sons.

Scott E. Powell, 57: Professional Scout with 21 years as the resident ranger at Camp Gorsuch by Mirror Lake.

Ron Bitzer, 58: Retired lawyer and administrative judge. A detail guy. A planner.

Michael Lacroix, 42: General manager of VendAlaska. Put safety on the agenda at staff meetings. At camp with one of his four children.

But even with this stellar group of volunteer leaders, what seemed to be the most routine of Boy Scout tasks -- putting up the tent -- turned deadly.

All four were killed Monday when the tent pole hit a power line, apparently electrocuting the men and horrifying children who looked on, Scout officials and witnesses said. A fifth Scout leader, Anchorage dentist Jay "Larry" Call, suffered electrical burns on his hands, hips and feet, his wife said. He was discharged from the hospital Tuesday, she said. Two contract workers also were injured.

All of the men who died are from Anchorage except Powell, who moved last year from Alaska to Ohio.

A day after the tragedy, the big question remained: Why was the tent being erected under power lines?

Scouts set up their own campground during Jamboree, which began Monday at Fort A.P. Hill, an Army post about an hour south of Washington, D.C. More than 43,000 Scouts, leaders and staff members were expected.

The Alaskans had hired a contractor to erect a large tent so the 71 Scouts and nine adults from the Western Alaska Council could gather together, Boy Scouts officials said. An additional 40 Scouts and leaders came from the Juneau and Fairbanks areas and had their own sub-camp in a different location.

A few Alaska boys wanted to help raise the tent, said Paula Call, wife of injured Scout leader Larry Call. The Calls' son, Kendell, 15, and at least one other boy tried to get the tall center pole in place but it got stuck, she said. Someone said, "Let go and let the men take care of it," she said.

"They were all in a group in the middle, close to the center pole," Paula Call said.

From their cocoon inside the white tent, the Scout leaders couldn't see the power line, she said. But in moments, the pole and the line touched.

"These men, when they were electrocuted, they were thrown to the ground," she said.

Juneau Mayor Bruce Botelho, a scoutmaster at Jamboree, said he was in the medical tent checking in his Southeast troop when he saw smoke from the big Alaska tent.

The U.S. Army's Criminal Investigation Command and the Boy Scouts are investigating the deaths, with the Army taking the lead, said Renee Fairrer, director of national news and media for the Jamboree. They are releasing little information.

The tent never erupted into flames, contrary to some early reports, Fairrer said. One man may have caught fire, Paula Call said.

Bitzer died at the scene, and Shibe, Powell and Lacroix died at Mary Washington Hospital in Fredericksburg, Fairrer said.

At Jamboree, national and regional Scout leaders have stepped in to fill the roles of the men who died, said Bill Haines, head of the Western Alaska Council of the Boy Scouts. Child psychologists and grief counselors have worked with the boys. President Bush is scheduled to speak today at the ongoing Jamboree.

Scouts from around the country brought the Alaska boys patches, shirts and other gifts, and set up their camp for them "so all they had to do was move in," Haines said.

The sons of the men who died were due back in Alaska on Tuesday afternoon, and three other boys also are leaving Jamboree, Haines said. A couple of others may follow.

The lost men include stars of Alaska scouting.

Powell influenced the lives of thousands of Alaska Scouts over the years at Camp Gorsuch, Scout leaders said.

Before this year, he never got to go to Jamboree because he was always running summer camp here. At the 50th anniversary of Camp Gorsuch earlier this month, he was invited to fill a spot that came open when a boy couldn't go.

His sister, Anne Rentfrow, remembers him heading west years ago with a canoe on top of his Jeep after time in the military in Germany. "He just kept going and ended up in Alaska. He just loved it there and didn't come home," she said.

Powell never married and had no children. Mark Jackson, a close friend who was in one of Powell's first troops in the 1970s, recalled asking Powell about his personal life.

"Powell said the people he went out on dates with considered scouting a curse word because he was always more devoted to scouting than he was to having that relationship," Jackson said.

Yancey Brumfield, 21, a camper at Gorsuch for five years and then a staff member for four more, remembers how Powell noticed when the young campers did something good. He was the backbone of Camp Gorsuch, Brumfield said.

He used to make up scouting songs for around the campfire, said friend Lou Ann Balensiefer.

Powell retired and left Alaska last summer to move to a family cabin near Mohican State Park in Perrysville, Ohio.

Camp Gorsuch named a field in his honor because he used to spend long hours getting the grass in shape for the boys, Haines said. On Tuesday morning at Scott's Field, the camp held a flag ceremony and said a prayer for Powell and the other Scout leaders.

Ron Bitzer "was in the Boy Scouts for 50 years," said his wife, Karen. "He's a good man, a loved man, and he loved his kids," she said, speaking through tears from Truckee, Calif. "He was an expert skier and an avid tennis player, and the boys share the same passions."

"It's tragic. It's beyond words," said one of his two sons, Brett, 24 and now a professional tennis coach. "This kind of thing doesn't really happen. I am lost and confused."

Bitzer grew up in Sacramento and came to Alaska in 1975 to work, splitting his time between California and Alaska until the couple moved up for good in 1982, Karen Bitzer said.

For years they owned a cabin resort in the Denali area. Bitzer worked as the chief of appeals for the state Oil and Gas Division, his wife said. He also had a real estate license. He retired at 50, then worked two years as a scouting official in South Anchorage and helped it grow, Haines said.

The Bitzers own a home in Truckee and were preparing to move there to be closer to their sons. "Now I don't know what we're going to do," she said.

Shibe had four teenage sons including the twins with him at Jamboree.

But to the troops he mentored, it was like he had 20 boys. "He took in all of us," said Regan Pfleiger, 18.

Shibe's family extended beyond Kris, his wife of 23 years, and their boys to a close-knit community built around the Gloria Dei Lutheran Church.

He was a Dimond High graduate who had worked for ACS since 1983. He most recently was a statewide dispatch foreman.

Pfleiger, best friends with Shibe's son Neil, remembers how cautious Mike Shibe was when it come to electricity. He always warned the boys not to dig in the yard until they knew where the power lines were, Pfleiger said.

"Mike worked with power lines for as long as I know,'' Pfleiger said. "He's always been so safe."

Lacroix worked as general manager of VendAlaska and emphasized safety, said coworker Don Winchester.

His volunteer work went beyond Scouts. He had been president of the Boys and Girls Club and was a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

"He was such a giving person, that was his hobby," said Alan Sandar, whose son was on the hockey team last year that Shibe coached.

Lacroix had been looking forward to Jamboree for months and excitedly told friends about his special new shoes, which had to be a certain style for the Scouts.

His office was covered in family photos and drawings from his children. "The family came first," Winchester said. "When we had people here whose kids were playing a game and needed to get away from work he always understood that."

Friends said Lacroix loved traveling in the motor home with his family, four-wheeling, fishing, hunting, riding motorcycles and sporting events.

The Boy Scouts in Anchorage plan a memorial service for the men sometime in the next two weeks. U.S. Sens. Lisa Murkowski and Ted Stevens mourned the men on the Senate floor. Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich ordered city flags flown at half staff.

Daily News columnist Beth Bragg contributed to this story. Lisa Demer can be reached at ldemer@adn.com and 257-4390. Alexandra Berzon can be reached at aberzon@adn.com.

How to help

• Cards and letters of condolence may be sent to the families in care of Western Alaska Council, 3117 Patterson St., Anchorage 99504.

• An Alaska credit union has set up an account to help the families of the four Scout leaders killed Monday at the Boy Scout Jamboree. Donations to the Scout Memorial Fund, account No. 80487, can be made at Denali Alaskan Federal Credit Union branches, which are located in Anchorage, Fairbanks, Juneau and Wasilla. Donations can be designated for any of the individual men, Ron Bitzer, Michael Lacroix, Michael Shibe and Scott Powell, or a general donation may be made to the fund that will be divided among their families.

• Mailed donations for the Boy Scout account can be sent to Denali Alaskan Federal Credit Union at 3400 LaTouche St., Anchorage, AK 99508. The credit union can be reached by phone at 1-907-257-7200 or 1-800-764-1123.

• Alaska's Congressional delegation has set up a hot line for Alaskans seeking information or trying to reach Scouts at the Jamboree: 1-202-228-3029.