Wednesday, January 7, 2009

Call early, rescuers say

Blaine County Search and Rescue stays ready for action


By TERRY SMITH
Express Staff Writer

Bryan Carpita, commander of Blaine County Search and Rescue, says equipment is kept maintained, fueled and ready to roll for emergencies. Carpita is shown here beside a 28-foot snowmobile trailer that doubles as a field command post after equipment is unloaded for a search. Photo by Willy Cook

If someone you know is lost, especially during adverse weather, those who might do the rescuing hope you'll call for emergency assistance sooner rather than later.

"We'd rather be called and canceled than called out too late," said Jay Davis, a lieutenant with the Blaine County Sheriff's Office and a backup commander for the county's search and rescue organization.

That point was tragically illustrated on Christmas Day when the parents of 11-year-old Sage Aragon didn't notify authorities until more than five hours after they knew she was missing in below-freezing weather on West Magic Road. Blaine County Search and Rescue found the girl early the following morning, but it was too late, and she was pronounced dead of hypothermia at St. Luke's Wood River Medical Center.

While it's not known when Sage died, Blaine County authorities generally agree that earlier notification would have improved her chance for survival.

A bright spot of the search was that search and rescue found the girl's brother, 12-year-old Bear Aragon, cold but alive, in a U.S. Bureau of Land Management restroom in the same area.

The children's father, 55-year-old Robert Aragon, and her uncle, 29-year-old Kenneth Quintana, have both been charged with second-degree murder and felony injury to a child for allegedly telling or allowing Sage and Bear to walk some nine miles to meet their mother in the West Magic Reservoir residential area.

"If there's a lesson to be learned from this, and I've seen this on a lot of searches, it's that people think they don't want to bother us and try to take care of it on their own," said Bryan Carpita, Blaine County Search and Rescue commander and a sergeant with the sheriff's office. "But that's what we're here for. People too often call us as a last resort when they should call us right away."

Search and Rescue resources

Carpita has been search and rescue commander for about three years. When a search is required, he has extensive resources at his fingertips.

The backbone of the organization is the 33 volunteers who donate their time and equipment when they get the call that someone is missing.

Many of the volunteers provide their own snowmobiles, four-wheelers, horses, dogs or whatever else is required for a search.

Volunteer Cameron Daggett, who is also Sun Valley's police chief, is commander of the K-9 units. Six dog and handler teams can be called upon when needed.

"I think we have an excellent group of people," Carpita said. "I can't say enough about them. They train constantly and make sure they're well prepared."

But Carpita has other resources at hand, including the entire sheriff's office staff when more searchers are needed. Other law enforcement agencies, in the Wood River Valley or elsewhere, can also be enlisted, as can fire departments, other search and rescue organizations, state and federal agencies and the Idaho National Guard.

If there's an avalanche, the Sun Valley Co. Ski Patrol can be called in along with its avalanche search dogs. Sun Valley Heliski is sometimes needed for air searches, and emergency helicopters are occasionally recruited from Saint Alphonsus and St. Luke's hospitals in Boise. The Galena Back Country Ski Patrol is also available.

Often when a search is required, unofficial volunteers, typically friends or family of the missing, show up and want to help and Carpita said efforts are made to put them to work.

"I try to employ them in some capacity," he said.

While many volunteers bring their own animals or equipment, search and rescue has its own fleet of vehicles too. Three snowmobiles, three ATV's, a six-wheeler Polaris Ranger, an equipment truck and a 28-foot snowmobile trailer that can double as a field command post are stored ready to roll at the new Blaine County public safety building in Hailey. Most of the equipment was donated to search and rescue by local or national businesses or companies.

Searches funded by duck race

While large searches can be expensive, Blaine County Search and Rescue operates on a relatively small budget. The sheriff's office often contributes funding for food or fuel during searches, but the organization's main sources of funding are private donations and Ketchum's annual Rotary-sponsored Labor Day weekend duck race.

Carpita said the duck race raised $10,000 for the organization last year.

Volunteers aren't paid, most equipment was donated and various agencies that assist with searches fund the endeavors through their own budgets.

Carpita said that only rarely are lost people asked to pay for the searches, but it happens occasionally in instances of "gross negligence."

Search and Rescue mobilizes

The Christmas Day search for Sage and Bear Aragon provides an example of how search and rescue is typically mobilized.

The Blaine County Dispatch Center was first notified shortly before 7 p.m. Sheriff's Deputy Cory Weatherly was on duty that evening. After determining that a search was needed, Weatherly notified search and rescue then set out himself for the West Magic Reservoir area.

Arrangements for an Idaho Transportation Department snowplow were made while Weatherly was en route. Upon arrival, Weatherly met the snowplow and started a search on his own down West Magic Road before other search and rescue personnel arrived.

A command post was set up by 8:30 p.m. and two snowmobile teams and one vehicle team were dispatched to assist with the search.

The vehicle team, headed by sheriff's Capt. Ed Fuller, found Bear at 9:50 p.m. in the BLM restroom. Fuller took Bear back to the command post where Bear was treated by Wood River Fire and Rescue ambulance personnel and then transported to the hospital.

Still unable to locate Sage, search and rescue called in the dog teams. Police Chief Daggett showed up with his dog Rocky and veterinarian Heidi Woog arrived with her dog Yaquiana.

Woog and Yaquiana found Sage, mostly covered with snow and barely visible, next to a barbed wire fence on the south side of West Magic Road. A second Wood River Fire and Rescue ambulance transported Sage to St. Luke's. They tried to resuscitate her but were unsuccessful.

According to a press release from the sheriff's office, the search team consisted of 15 search and rescue volunteers, two dogs, eight sheriff's deputies, one Hailey police officer, one member of the Adventure Crew (a youth volunteer group) and one Lincoln County deputy. A Life Flight helicopter also assisted.

Had the search continued into daylight hours, the Galena Back County Ski Patrol, Twin Falls County Search and Rescue, Lincoln County Search and Rescue and additional deputies from the sheriff's office all were on standby.

Carpita said that Blaine County Search and Rescue averages 10 to 15 searches per year, but most aren't as extensive as the one required for Sage and Bear Aragon.

"Most of our searches are really small and it just takes a couple of people to go out and find them," he said.




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