A Train Derailment, A Training Day, and a Trail Wreck

It was just a typical 24 hours (actually, more for some folks) in Search & Rescue ... not that much of anything about SAR is typical. You never know what you're going to see or hear when that email/text message/phone call comes in.

On Friday evening, May 13th, my phone beeped, and when I retrieved it from my pocket, "train derailment" were the words that popped out at me. Reading the full text message, I learned it was a freight train that had derailed north of Williams, Arizona, with a possible serious HAZMAT situation. Search and Rescue was requested to shuttle HAZMAT techs to the site over very rough roads. (See the location of the derailment on Google Maps.)

Six or eight SAR volunteers were needed but 15 called in to help. We loaded some equipment, including the Polaris Ranger UTV, and headed to the site, upwind of the derailment in case there were any noxious fumes coming from the HAZMAT materials. (Thanks to our Coordinator for thinking of that!)

Just after we turned off the highway, we saw several RVs. People were camping in the area for the spring season turkey hunt. But it wasn't a rafter of wild turkeys that gave them a rude awakening—it was a railroad crew with very big, very bright lights, which I assumed would be transported to the derailment to illuminate the area. Those lights were all on next to the RVs when search and rescue headed out. I guess they were testing them before hauling them in.

As it turned out, the "nasty" stuff on the train—a sodium hydroxide solution—was intact, so crews were able to make their way to the site of the 15-car derailment from the downwind side, which was passable for their vehicles. Apparently, it was corn syrup, concrete, and beer cars that had overturned. I heard that at least one car had gone over a 120-foot cliff. Wonder how that happened.

A few hours after the call-out, SAR members were headed back home.

The next day, it was training from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. for me and the rest of the technical rescue team out at Volunteer Canyon, a few hundred feet deep at the end, where we were practicing tandem systems on either side of the canyon. (Wish I had photos for you, but my hands were pretty tied up most of the time. Here's a picture of the canyon, though, which looks like it was taken right where we were practicing.)

During one rotation, I was the subject and rappelled down to a ledge where I made myself comfortable (relatively speaking) and waited for a teammate to be lowered to pick me off.  Believe it or not, I actually enjoyed being suspended over a long way down.

Happily, the rather complex maneuver, with main and belay lines attached to the subject (me) and my rescuer from both rims, was a success, and the two of us were safely transplanted back on top. It was a productive day for the team and good to be back on the ropes after months of alpine training through the winter.

But the day wasn't quite done for some tech team members. As soon as we'd refueled the vehicles and then unloaded equipment back at the SAR building, our coordinator called, saying there had been a mountain bike accident on the Schultz Creek Trail. I was already late for another commitment so I couldn't respond, but several others quickly reloaded gear and headed to the scene. Coconino County Search & Rescue assisted Summit Fire and Guardian with what FlagScanner described on Twitter as "a very technical rescue of an injured adult female ... at the Schultz Creek Trailhead."

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See the latest post from SAR Stories News: Search & Rescue Blogs and Mission Episodes / Also: Update on the Search for Abisha

More Lost Hikers Rescued on the Peaks

Last month, there were two groups of lost hikers on the San Francisco peaks, two nights in a row. The first group was very hypothermic when rescuers from Coconino County SAR arrived, and a teammate of mine told me he didn't think one (at least) would have survived the night. These hikers had all lost the trail and then darkness caught up with them. Good thing there's a cellphone signal up there.

At this time, the Mt. Humphreys Trail is still covered with snow in some sections and still quite deep with a lot of blowdowns, making it very difficult to follow. One of my teammates who was hiking up there recently and knows the mountain intimately helped another disoriented hiker make his way back down to the Arizona Snowbowl ski area, likely avoiding a search and rescue later that same day or night.

This past Monday night, there was another call for the rescue of yet another lost hiker on Mt. Humphreys. Using a GPS app on his phone, the Ohio man texted his coordinates to his wife back in Ohio, who then contacted Coconino County Sheriff's dispatch at around 5:30 p.m.  Eight search and rescue volunteers were then dispatched to the coordinates and located the lost hiker. After helping him get warm, they escorted him down the mountain to  his vehicle. He declined medical attention.

Please remember, if you're going to hike Mt. Humphreys, especially when the trail is in such "challenging" shape, carry extra layers of clothing, two light sources and extra batteries, food and plenty of water, a topographic map (Humphreys Peak Quad), a GPS (if you know how to use it), and a fully charged cellphone. Keep in mind that you'll be hiking at elevations ranging from 9,500 to 12,600 feet, which is a lot more difficult—and colder and often much windier—than hiking at sea level or even down in Flagstaff at 7,000 feet, so it will take you quite a bit longer.

For current trail conditions, contact the Coconino National Forest Ranger District at 1824 S. Thompson St., Flagstaff, AZ 86001 or call 928-527-3600.

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To follow up on the fundraiser for injured Coconino County Search and Rescue team member Scott Baker, held this past Saturday, I'm told more than $11,000 was raised for the Baker family on that day. Thank you to all who participated and helped make this event such a success!

Helping One of Our Own

In January, 2011, my teammate, Scott Baker, was injured in a construction accident, leaving him with spinal cord injuries and paralyzed from the waist down. As today's article in the Arizona Daily Sun says, "As a SAR volunteer, Baker spent 25 years never hesitating to get up in the middle of the night, whatever the weather, and go searching for lost or stranded people."

And I know this from firsthand experience working with Scott, who has been a great field partner to me on several missions, including one all-night search on Mt. Agassiz. It was well below zero on that winter night, when our hands would go numb the minute we'd remove our gloves to try to use our GPSes. We were struggling out there, snowshoeing through deep drifts for hours, but Scott always kept our spirits up.

In addition to being a "ground-pounder," Scott was also a member of our team's technical high-angle rescue unit.

Scott has also been a helper in ways other than his 25 years as a dedicated search and rescue volunteer. He was a 4-H parent for 10 years and helped children by maintaining equestrian equipment and a safe, happy place for kids to practice horsemanship. Scott's wife also volunteers, serving on several committees in the community.

This Saturday, the Summit Fire Department Auxiliary, the local firefighters' union, Coconino County Sheriff's Search and Rescue, and 4-H are coming together for a fundraiser at Coconino High School to help cover some of the costs associated with Scott's long-term rehabilitation down in Phoenix and other expenses not covered by insurance. Even the wheelchair alone costs $28,000. His family has been going to visit him every week down in the valley to learn how to help him when he comes home, which is scheduled for sometime next week.

Scott Baker Fundraiser

Saturday, May 7th, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m
Coconino High School, 2701 N. Izabel St.
Chili cook-off, cake auction and silent auction raffle
Cost: $25 for chili cook-off; $5 for six raffle tickets; $10 T-shirts; $10 to taste all the chili you want.
Information: Summit Fire Department at 526-9537