N. Arizona sees jump in rescue missions

Uptick in recreation-area visits is likely the cause

FLAGSTAFF - Authorities have seen a big increase in search-andrescue missions in northern Arizona, driven by a surge in popularity of outdoor recreation areas.

From May 20 to June 15, searchand-rescue teams with the Coconino County Sheriff’s Office have conducted 21 technical rescues requiring special equipment and personnel, such as a helicopter or volunteers who can rappel down hard to reach cliff faces, the Arizona Daily Sun reported.

“We have heard the same thing from every organization we have talked to,” Sheriff’s Cmdr. Rex Gilliland said. “We are seeing an overall increase in recreational activities in the national park. Outdoors in Flagstaff and Coconino County are being discovered and loved to death.”

Some of those rescues even went on at the same time, Gilliland said.

“We had a fall victim in West Clear Creek while at the same time we have a mission outside of Page, a kid stuck down in Waterholes Canyon.”

The Sheriff’s Office is already projecting that it will surpass the number of missions it conducted last year. County search-and-rescue teams have conducted 63 search and rescue missions since the start of 2017 vs. 90 missions for all of 2016.

“We are doing about three to four rescues a week,” Sheriff’s Search and Rescue Coordinator Sgt. Aaron Dick said. “We have been dealing with multiple missions with limited resources, so we have been determining which incidents are most urgent.”

On a busy tourist weekend for Coconino County, technical rescue teams could be forced to respond to multiple search and rescue missions on opposite sides of the 18,661-squaremile county.

“It has been a busy year overall, and volunteers commit to a lot doing search and rescue,” said Lisa Callan, a search-and-rescue volunteer who has been on 18 missions in 2017.

“Some of our missions have been far away, and most rescues don’t occur at convenient times.”