Community rallies to help search-and-rescue group

Businesses and community members have stepped up with donations after a break-in left Nanaimo Search and Rescue scrambling to replace equipment.

The all-volunteer, 54-person agency said in a statement that it is “blown away” by the support that followed the 2:30 a.m. breakin on March 5 at its compound at Fourth Street and Chesterlea Avenue.

About $5,000 worth of equipment was stolen, including an automated external defibrillator, Milwaukee tools, a chainsaw and a Spotx satellite-communications unit.

Surveillance video shows a person leaving the compound with two yellow Pelican-brand cases, and with a white car parked close by. Two cargo trailers where the equipment was stored were broken into after latches were pried off access doors.

Since then, Milwaukee tools have been replaced by the Nanaimo branch of Raider Hansen, an industrial-equipment distributor, while heating and air-conditioning company ServiceXCEL donated a Home Depot gift card worth over $600 that was used to buy a new electric chainsaw to replace the gas-powered one that was taken.

Ernie’s Blackpoint Repair donated $500 and the Lantzville Rotary Club has reached out to see what it can do to help.

On top of that, about $700 in donations has been made since the break-in on an existing fundraising page at https://www. canadahelps.org/en/charities/ nanaimo-search-and-rescue-society/, said spokesperson Grant Williamson.

The defibrillator and satellitecommunications unit were both found after being discarded.

“The Spotx device was found in a yard not far from the hall,” Williamson said. “I guess they figured out it was kind of a niche thing and not valuable.”

Nanaimo Search and Rescue said all of the stolen items have a use in locating lost people and dealing with medical emergencies in the backcountry and recreational areas.

“Tools like the ones stolen allow us to respond in a timely manner without having to worry about not being able to clear a downed tree or other obstacle,” the group said. “Sometimes seconds save lives.”

Williamson said the support and good wishes from the public feel like a validation of the work Nanaimo Search and Rescue does.

“It is nice to see,” Williamson said. “It’s uplifting.”

The search-and=rescue group has been serving the Nanaimo area since 1991, and provides mutual aid to other search-andrescue units on Vancouver Island and around the province.