Text Size: A
A
A
A
In order to help residents protect their homes from fire, which is one of the things Waldens Ridge Emergency Services assists with, the department is offering free smoke detectors until supplies are extinguished. Those interested can call 886-5974 or stop by the station, 2100 Taft Highway, Thursday nights around 7 p.m.
With the colors and cooler temperatures of fall now in season Waldens Ridge Emergency Services is dealing with a hike in rescue calls.
“We’ve had four search calls over the past month and a half,” spokesman Andrew Fisher told the Walden Board of Mayor and Aldermen. “We had like three all last year.”
Although typically accounting for the smallest percentage of the department’s calls, Fisher said these search and rescue missions require more manpower.
The most recent rescue, which involved a local 13-year-old boy who spent nearly a day lost in the woods, dispatched crews as well as residents on an overnight search which took hours before the boy was found safe.
“Usually with search and rescue, the more people the better,” Fisher said. “It makes it go by a lot quicker and smoother. I think it said a lot for our community for so much interest, for people to come out and participate and take days off from work.”
As the “largest trail network on the mountain,” Fisher said the area behind Alexian Village, including Signal Point and Rainbow Lake and Falls, is the area where he and other crew members are often called to find those who have gone missing or have called for help.
“There are a lot of trails back in there,” he said. “People tend to go straight to that. A lot of people get out there and don’t know what their limits are. When they realize, it’s too late. That’s when we get called in.”
Although he attributes the increase in calls to “just people having bad luck” and “statistics,” there are precautions that can and should be taken, he said.
Fisher advises hikers to tell someone where they’re going and when they expect to be back.
“A lot of these people we go searching for we have no idea where they’re at,” said Fisher. “If we actually knew where they were going it would make it a lot easier to find them.”
Carry a cell phone. According to Fisher, most of the mountain receives cell phone signals.
Carry a first aid kit and know how to use it.
Be cautious.
Dress appropriately.
“It may not be the time of year to go out in shorts if you’re going to be out after dark,” he said.
Do not exceed your physical limitations.
“It basically all boils down to a lot of common sense,” Fisher summarized.
del.icio.us
digg
Furl
Spurl
YahooMyWeb
co.mments
Ma.gnolia
De.lirio.us
blogmarks
BlinkList
NewsVine
scuttle
Fark
Shadows
Comments
Post a comment
Commenting requires registration.