We have had a wonderful amount of snow up in the Sierra this year. Thank God, as we have needed it badly. The flowers are blooming as they always do in great water years. Unfortunately, spring runoff also brings danger to people who recreate along our Sierra rivers and streams. Water levels can be high and fast, not to mention the water temperatures are COLD! It can take less than a foot of water to knock the feet out from under an adult--even less for a child. When the water is high, there can be a lot of debris flowing downstream, too. 

On July 28, 2016, California Highway Patrol (CHP) Helicopter 40 (H-40) was requested by the Fresno County Sheriff’s Department to assist with a personal locator beacon activation.  [See CHP Video here] A personal locator beacon notifies first responders of an emergency with a latitude and longitude of the victim’s location. The GPS coordinates of the activation showed the victim was located in the area of Bear Creek southeast of Edison Lake. Due to thunderstorms in the area, the helicopter response was not immediately possible and postponed to the next morning. A Fresno County Sheriff’s Department search and rescue team hiked to the victim. The search and rescue team located the victim, Mr. Kelan Poorman of Oceanside, CA, that evening at an elevation of 8,500 ft. Mr. Poorman was suffering from flu-like symptoms, dehydration, and was unable to continue due to his condition. The search and rescue team stayed with him until H-40 was able to respond the following morning. At 6:00 a.m. on July 29, 2016, the H-40 crew of Sgt. J. Andriese (pilot) and Officer R. Hotchkiss (paramedic) responded to the area and conducted a hoist rescue of Mr. Poorman. H-40 transported Mr. Poorman to Mammoth Airport they met ground ambulance which transported him to the Mammoth hospital for treatment.

[From: Sierra News Online] MADERA COUNTY — A two-day Search & Rescue effort concluded with the very best of outcomes when a missing man was located in the Miami Motorcycle Trail area this morning.

About 10:30 p.m. on Sunday, June 19, the Madera County Sheriff’s Office received a report that the parents of a 21-year-old man were unable to locate him in the forested area north of Oakhurst where his vehicle was parked. Their last reported contact with him had been about 6 a.m. that morning.

Several deputies responded to the location and began searching on Sunday night, without success.

Either there are no banners, they are disabled or none qualified for this location!

On Monday morning, Commander Tyson Pogue put a call out for Madera County Search & Rescue (MADSAR) teams, canines and Off Highway Vehicles.

Searchers first conducted what is known as a “hasty search,” looking in the places most likely for someone to end up in similar circumstances — such as trails and clearings — again without success.

After conducting a full-scale search of the area, SAR Commander Pogue contacted the California Office of Emergency Services (CAL OES), requesting additional resources.

The Sheriff’s Office has mutual aid agreements with agencies throughout the state, and resources were dispatched from Fresno, Kern, Tulare and Mariposa Counties, including four addition canine teams.

Monday evening, the area was divided into grids and searchers assigned to specific areas. They did find various items belonging to the missing man during the day’s search, so they were confident he was in the area.

As darkness fell, the search scaled back and everyone regrouped in preparation for the next day’s mission. Several deputies did remain on the job throughout the night.

On Tuesday morning, one of the teams was made up of a Carda dog team, a flanker (someone who does navigation and communication so the handler can focus on the dog), and Madera County Sheriff’s Sgt. Jacob Tallmon. At about 10:30 a.m., this group finally located the young man about a mile from his vehicle, alive but very disoriented.

He had no food or water, and though uninjured, was in need of medical attention, according to Cmdr. Pogue. He was transported by ground ambulance to Madera Community Hospital.

The young man lives in Fresno, but is reportedly from Oakhurst and has family here.

“The success of this mission can be directly attributed to the hard work and training of our volunteers, sworn personnel assigned to MADSAR, and the resources that came to our aid from other counties,” says Cmdr. Pogue. “It’s a very happy ending to extremely complex and lengthy search.”

Over three-dozen personnel were involved in the efforts, including Search & Rescue volunteers, plus sworn personnel with the Madera County Sheriff’s Office and Carda search dog teams.

The team was called out to provide mutual aid to Placer County for the search of a lost skier in the vicinity of the Sugar Bowl ski area.

SAR Mission 2015/11/22

The SAR team met at the Potter Pass trailhead, in the Sierras above Huntington Lake at 8.300 feet altitude, for winter training. This is a trail that gets a lot of activity at all times of year. Because of the drought, there was very little snow at this time of year. This may sound nice, but it lulls hikers to take chances that might otherwise would not take. A fast moving winter storm could change things! In the past, it was common for there to be 5 feet of snow in this area. This year, there was one foot or less accumulation. Never-the-less, it was subfreezing and great conditions for training. Team One sent a group out to recon the Twin Lakes area, about 4 miles away over Potter Pass at 9,600 feet. Team One spent the night out on the trail and worked on snow camping techniques and snowshoe hiking. I saw a photo of these guys around the campfire that night, so I'm proud that they made the tough conditions like home. Team Two manned the Command Post, which is our new SARbulance vehicle. It is not yet certified for missions, so it was a great opportunity to work out the bugs and get it mission ready. Two members manned the CP, making sure that radio communications were maintained and coordinating events. The teams did great and everyone survived well in the extreme altitude and weather conditions. As is to underscore our purpose, a winter storm blew in as we were exiting the area Sunday around noon and quickly inundated the area with snow and ice. Everyone made it down the hill safely without injury. 

The Team did a wonderful job today at the 96th annual Fresno Veteran's Day Parade! The new Mountaineer SARbulance, driven by Bill Allen, made a great showing, followed by the Mountaineers. There were several times when the Mountaineers had to double-time it to keep up with the columns ahead of them. I was really struck by the huge number of people who offered their 'thank you' to the team for their efforts. Sheriff Mims stopped by to personally thank team members for their service to the Sheriff's Department and for a group photo prior to the beginning of the parade. 

Missing Folsom hiker Miyuki Harwood was found injured but alive after 9 days lost in the Sierras near Courtright reservoir; read more. . .

The search for missing Sacramento-area woman Miyuki Harwood continues in the High Sierras east of Fresno