Cowichan Search and Rescue needs new home

Regional district staff have taken over the building in which team was based

Cowichan’s growing search-andrescue outfit needs a new home — but not because they’re growing.

The real reason is somewhat ironic: prompted by the recordsetting 2017 fire season, the Cowichan Valley Regional District (CVRD) decided it needed a better facility in case it needed an emergency operations centre.

Cowichan Search and Rescue’s facility, which is at the regional district’s Bings Creek solid-waste management facility, at the northwestern edge of Duncan near the Cowichan Valley highway, fit that need.

So, although the search and rescue group lobbied hard for the building — it has occupied it for seven years — it’s now out of Bings Creek and looking for a new home.

Cowichan SAR president Dewi Griffiths called the situation a “shock,” but remained upbeat.

“We are hopeful that with the support of the regional district, the local community, business and other donors, we can overcome this new challenge and emerge stronger and even better able to serve our community,” he said in an email.

He said the CVRD’s head office in Duncan was “woefully inadequate” to serve as an emergency operations centre in case of a wildfire or other emergency, so he could see why they wanted to take over the Bings Creek facility.

The group, founded in 1962, is responsible for an area that stretches the width of Vancouver Island and runs from the Malahat summit in the south to the Chemainus River in the north.

Griffiths said it has about 30 active members, with 20 more set to enter training. The group can handle ground search-and-rescue operations, as well as technical rope rescues, swift-water rescues, and can provide a tracking team.

In 2017, it dealt with more than 20 incidents, logging more than 2,200 hours of volunteer time. The team also provided more than 2,500 hours of training.

The group also runs prevention training programs for schools and youth clubs.

The team is fitting out its new technical-rescue vehicle and will soon also have a planning and briefing trailer, taking the fleet up to 11 vehicles.

It’s this fleet where the need for a permanent base comes in. Currently the group is using two bays at Bings Creek — a two-storey bay for its command bus and a one-storey bay that has a washroom and a training/ office space — and the team needs to find a new, heated and powered home by the middle of 2018.

Local companies have donated storage units. In all, they occupy an area measuring 40 by 45 feet.

“In order to fully secure our entire fleet and other rescue equipment in one secure building, we will be looking to find, acquire or build something a minimum of 60 feet by 65 feet, with power and heat (and hopefully washroom/kitchenette facilities),” Griffiths said.

He said the team would still need an office/training space, but it has looked at adding a construction trailer if necessary.

“We also have dreams of other capabilities such as incorporating rope-rescue training capabilities in the structure design and the capability to have drive-thru bays,” he added.

“Having worked so hard to build our response capabilities over the past 10 years, it’s been a shock to have to face this new challenge.”