PLSAR seeks east-side volunteers

SANDPOINT — Priest Lake Search & Rescue is on the hunt for more volunteers on the east side of Bonner County.

The organization is making the push to balance out its resources now that it is the Bonner County sheriff’s go-to resource for search-and-rescue missions.

PLSAR already has approximately 140 volunteers, but the bulk of them live in western Bonner County and Priest Lake. Twenty or so volunteers live on the east side of the county and the group hopes to broaden those ranks.

“We would like to have 140 (volunteers) over here in the next year or so,” said Ryan Wells, commander of PLSAR’s Sandpoint-based unit.

The sheriff’s office is providing space at a facility on Great Northern Road so the group can store some of its rescue gear and communications equipment. Without it, PLSAR would have to tote it from Coolin, which would lengthen response times on calls for service.

The group is 100-percent volunteer. There are no dues to pay and the cost of training is borne by PLSAR. The extent of the training depends on the search-and-rescue discipline the volunteer focuses on.

Ropes training for high-angle rescues, for instance, may be more extensive than the training given to a volunteer who specializes in all-terrain vehicle rescues, Wells said.

Other team specialties include swift-water, snowmobile and back country rescues.

“We try to do something monthly as far as training is concerned, and we rotate through the different disciplines,” said Wells.

PLSAR is particularly interested in volunteers with an in-depth knowledge of the ground they’ll be traversing when a hiker, huckleberry picker or snowmobile rider takes a wrong turn and finds themselves lost or stuck.

Although PLSAR has worked with the sheriff’s office for more than a decade, the sheriff now works exclusively with the group because it’s one of the best-trained and best-equipped outfits in the region.

“PLSAR is one of the premier search and rescue providers in the Northwest,” said sheriff’s Lt. Ror Lakewold. “They provide diverse response capabilities in all weather and hazard conditions.”