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Last night and into this morning, Snohomish County Volunteer Search and Rescue (SCVSAR) Units and Teams, with help from SAR Teams from other counties, successfully completed a difficult rescue in harsh weather conditions. Below is the press release from the Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office with all the details. This is the second rescue on Three Fingers this year “SNOHOMISH COUNTY, Wash. – The Sheriff’s Office Search and Rescue (SAR) Unit and volunteers from Snohomish County Volunteer Search and Rescue (SCVSAR) completed a 20-hour overnight rescue mission on Three Fingers Mountain. Around 11 a.m. on Sunday, SAR received an InReach Personal Locator Beacon (PLB) SOS activation near 6,800 feet on Three Fingers Mountain. Two hikers were stranded due to a strong weather system that caused whiteout conditions and heavy snow, making the trail too treacherous for them to continue climbing down. It would take ground teams approximately 12 hours to hike up the trail, so SnoHawk10 was launched with two pilots, one crew chief, and two helicopter rescue technicians to attempt to insert ground crews to a higher elevation on the mountain side. Due to weather conditions causing low visibility, the flight mission was cancelled and the helicopter returned to Taylor’s […]

Last night sixteen volunteers from Snohomish County Volunteer Search and Rescue (SCVSAR) Units, along with one King Co. SAR volunteer who was hiking in the area, assisted four Gold Bar firefighters in carrying an injured hiker down from near Lake Serene. The hiker was on the trail just below the lake and couldn’t walk on their own. The volunteers and firefighters carried up medical supplies, a litter, and a wheel to help bring the injured person back down the trail. This is a very rugged trail with many stairs, and even with a wheel, it is a lot of work lifting over every rock, root, and step. SCVSAR encourages all hikers to leave a good trip plan at home with someone reliable, who can report to 911 if you are overdue. We also encourage everyone to carry the “Ten Essentials”, so that if you are injured or lost, you can take care of yourself and stay safe and comfortable until help arrives. SCVSAR responds to many leg injuries that leave a person unable to walk and stranded several miles from the road, often without cell phone service. In our region, the weather changes quickly, and it can get cold and […]

Last Sunday morning, SAR received notification of a 911 call from the family member of a person who, along with their friend, was on Three Fingers Mountain trying to get to the old lookout. They had lost the trail the evening before in bad weather and spent the night on a ledge. They reported to the family member that they were very cold, everything was wet, and visibility was very limited. Members from our Everett Mountain Rescue Unit, along with members from Seattle Mountain Rescue and Tacoma Mountain Rescue, our SCVSAR 4X4 Team, and our SCVSAR Operations Support Unit, responded to the remote location. By use of electric mountain bikes for the first team, and a 6 wheel ATV and Jeep for the following teams, they were transported the 8 miles of closed road to the trailhead near Tupso Pass. The Mountain Rescue teams eventually located the subjects in the difficult weather conditions beyond Tin Can Gap. The stranded hikers were given some hot drinks and food, and additional dry clothes before being helped back to the trailhead and the waiting 4X4 teams, who returned them to the road and to their waiting family members. Our Operations Support Unit, who […]

Around 1 p.m. yesterday, Search and Rescue (SAR) responded to Barclay Lake for a 40-year-old hiker who suffered a serious ankle injury. SAR coordinated a 20 person pack out team to carry her back down to the trailhead. Once she arrived safely down the trail, she was transported by aid to Providence Regional Medical Center for treatment of her injury. These types of rescue missions occur regularly in the summer moths and they would not be possible without our on-call volunteers with Snohomish County Volunteer Search & Rescue. A HUGE thank you to every volunteer who responded to this mission and thank you to Sky Valley Fire Department for their assistance.

On August 2nd, the Snohomish County Sherriff’s Office (SCSO) honored Bill Quistorf with the following release: A huge congratulations and thank you to Chief Pilot Bill Quistorf for 20 years of dedicated service to the residents and visitors of Snohomish County. He has flown hundreds of life-saving rescue missions in the backcountry. We are very grateful to have such an experienced and knowledgeable pilot on our Search and Rescue team! Please join us in honoring Chief Pilot Quistorf for his 20 years of service to our community!

Yesterday afternoon Snohomish County Volunteer Search and Rescue’s units respond to a call for help at Mount Pilchuck for an injured hiker. SCVSAR volunteers along with help from King County ESAR and Skagit SAR volunteers were able to carry the person out by wheeled litter from this rugged and very rocky trail. SCVSAR is always looking for dedicated volunteers. You can go to our web page at https://scvsar.org/volunteer for details about joining.

Originally shared on Facebook In 2020, our Search and Rescue (SAR) unit had 457 total missions and 8 recoveries (fatalities), which was a 38% increase from 2019 when SAR had 331 total missions and 1 recovery (fatality). Just this past weekend, SAR had a dozen incident responses. As a reminder, please know your limits, check trail conditions online before you leave, have a plan and tell a trusted person when you are expected to return, and ALWAYS pack the 10 essentials, even for a day hike! Friday, May 28: SAR responded to Barlow Pass for an overdue hiker. His vehicle was located at the trailhead unoccupied and he was reported as possibly missing for six days. Due to it being dark, search teams arranged for the helo to launch at daylight. Saturday, May 29: The following morning, SnoHawk10 was launched to help locate the missing hiker. While searching for the missing hiker, SnoHawk10 diverted to Coal Lake for two teenagers who fell through ice and into the lake. The crew checked and assessed both subjects after they were able to self-rescue. SnoHawk10 returned to Barlow Pass to continue searching for the missing hiker. Eventually, the subject was located when he […]

Congratulations to new volunteer SCVSAR members who worked hard to pass the 3-day SAR Academy in Snohomish County Volunteer Search and Rescue! We also congratulate existing members who were able to refresh some field core competencies and search techniques in a wilderness environment. The weekend’s training, augmented by prior online classes, included an unplanned bivouac and a mock search & rescue, with special focus on the following skills: GPS and Navigation with Compass Overnight shelter, with gear, as well as Alternate Shelter Identification Pack a Subject in a Litter for Transport to definitive care, as well as the transport activities Day and Night Grid Searches as well as an Evidence Search Average Range of Detection (AROD) search techniques Conduct GAR Assessments (Green/Amber/Red safety level for missions) Operate and Communicate on a SAR radio Bone Immobilization, and Glove Removal to manage blood borne pathogen safety. We send special thanks to the organizers and instructors who made this all possible. SCVSAR is welcoming new recruits who wish to join. The next SAR Academy will be held in Fall 2021, with online learning and orientation opportunities until then. Joining SAR is a great way to give back to the community while also learning […]

On Sunday night, 5-16-2021, at about 8:30pm, 911 was notified of an injured hiker on the Heather Lake trail on the Mountain Loop Highway. The Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office Search and Rescue deputy was dispatched and quickly determined from the reporting friends that the person had a leg injury and was not able to walk. The deputy then called out Snohomish County Volunteer Search and Rescue and 14 volunteers responded. The volunteers headed up the Heather Lake trail and found the injured person and 2 friends about 2 miles up trail. The volunteers then used their wheeled litter to carry the injured person back down to the trailhead; arriving there at about 4:30am to the subject’s waiting and very grateful family and friends. As always SAR encourages all hikers to carry the Ten Essentials and leave word with a responsible person of where you went and when you’ll be back. Yesterday started out as a beautiful day. But if you get disoriented, lost or injured and can’t move, what started out as a perfect day can become a very long and uncomfortable night. Thank you to our 14 volunteers for the quick response and successful overnight rescue mission. This would […]

On May 1st, Snohomish County Volunteer Search and Rescue (SCVSAR) conducted a joint training session with our Operations Support Unit (OSU) and our K-9 Team. This training was developed in preparation for the 2021 search season, to ensure we are all working at our pinnacle skill set when finding those who are lost. The coordinators for this training session designed a common search scenario in the Snohomish County woods for missing hikers and helped develop a plan for the K-9 Team members to search for the subjects. The scenario ended with all subjects being found successfully. This was a full day of training with K-9s and their Dog Handers, Operations, and (to ensure a great turnout ) our Food Truck, that renewed skills after the winter lull, and reiterated our basic foundation that we build upon in SCVSAR. In the end, teamwork between command staff and searchers in the field collaborating together is essential to our goals. Interested in joining Search & Rescue? We’re always looking for motivated, dedicated people, who will train for and deploy on missions…“THAT OTHERS MAY LIVE.”