Keremeos/Sidney – Search and Rescue. We hear about them saving lives all the time. SAR groups are made up of volunteers.
The word out of the South Okanagan/Similkameen is devastating.
The last two remaining members of the Keremeos ground search and rescue group have made the very difficult decision to close the group down.
Rose Koehler and Darrell Taylor, a husband and wife team that had been involved with Keremeos SAR since its restart in 2009, found it impossible to recruit enough members to keep the group running.
“We live in an area with a high number of retired people and, those who are not retired, are often very busy with work responsibilities and family life,” says Koehler. “Being a search and rescue volunteer typically means a significant commitment in time and energy.”
Koehler and Taylor say the decision to close down was gut-wrenching but they’d like to assure Keremeos and area residents that other SAR teams can respond quickly. “Some of them can be here in 10 minutes,” says Koehler.
Coverage for search and rescue calls for Keremeos and its surrounding area will now be handled by the closest SAR group – either Penticton, Oliver/Osoyoos or Princeton – depending on where the incident occurs.
FVN has not heard of any similar circumstances for SAR in the Central Fraser Valley, Kent-Harrison or Chilliwack.
