After a relatively quiet start to 2013, search and rescue incidents have started to increase. That’s not unusual according to Neil Brewer, one of the team’s SAR managers,.
"What’s different this year is the severity and complexity of the incidents we’ve had to deal with," he said.
It started on May 19 with the technical rescue in the Chehalis Canyon. Then came the paraglider lodged 100” up in a tree 2 km from the launch site on Jun. 3. A large-scale search started on Jun. 10 at the 47 km mark on the Harrison West FSR (Westwood Bay) with the discovery of an abandoned campsite and a missing camper. The search lasted for four days and involved over 700 volunteer searcher hours before the man was declared missing and presumably drowned.
The evening of Jun. 14 saw the team responding to a call for assistance from Hope SAR for an ATV incident on Spuzzum Creek. Kent Harrison assisted Hope and Chilliwack SAR in a rope rescue to get four subjects off a steep embankment. One subject was airlifted to hospital while another was pronounced deceased at the scene.
On a more positive note, two local community groups have recently made donations to the team. The Harrison Yacht Club (Bill Hopkins) presented the team with over $300 that was raised through a garage sale and sales of hot dogs on boaters’ day.
And on Jun. 19, The Agassiz Harrison Lions Club (Joey Ellis and Virginia Jennings) presented the team with cheques totaling $1,327. This was a combination of the proceeds from the Mothers’ Day pancake breakfast and a $500 donation from the Lions Club itself. Kent Harrison Search and Rescue’s President, Marvin Anderson received the donations and expressed his gratitude for the support from these two community groups.
“It’s unsolicited donations such as this that make us very proud to be part of this community” Anderson said.