The Carson Forest is a dream for outdoor enthusiasts. It includes three designated Wilderness Areas and the opportunities for adventurers are a daily reality.
There are times, however, when people need help during their adventure. Getting lost is common, while injuries sustained by tripping or falling are also common and getting sick is not unheard of in the altitude.
Red River is a 911 town and the Red River Fire Department does more than just put out house fires. They are involved in Wildland fire fighting and provide EMS services and Ambulance service as well as Search & Rescue operations.
Ron Burnham has been Red River Fire Chief since 1984 and was instrumental in helping to organize the Search & Rescue service for the town.
“There were some informal responses before that. We didn’t have a formal rescue function. It took a couple of years to get our feet on the ground, get some things started. That was around 1988.
“We’re pretty focused. We do rapid searches for people who are lost. If it’s a rescue, we’ll provide that function. If it’s a prolonged search in a relatively large, undefined area, that’s outside of our capabilities and the state comes in with other resources.
“We have a very high success rate of locating someone quickly, affecting a rescue, getting our people on the scene to figure out what is necessary to get them out of whatever trouble they are in. We focus on Wilderness and Hasty Search Wilderness rescue. We’ve developed some technical rope skills and we have a very good team right now with those skills.
“We have one team, we don’t have specialists. We all learn and develop the different skills. Most of the volunteer fire personnel are also involved in Search & Rescue. There is ongoing routine training once a month. We do S&R rope training. When there is a group of new volunteers we’ll do basic training, starting from the beginning to a certain level of competence. We’re incredibly fortunate to have such a great group of people!”
Burnham says most summer calls are for lost and injured hikers and for vehicles that go off the mountain roads and rescue is needed. He points out that it’s not just ATVs and side-by-sides, Jeeps are also involved.
“Interestingly enough, we see more hypothermia cases in summer than in winter. It nice and sunny when they leave in the morning wearing light clothes. Then they get rained on and the wind blows. They get cold fast.
“Cell phones are often responsible for locating lost people when they have service. Most phones have GPS and we can track with relative accuracy.”