Stand Down
Stand down. A not uncommon phrase heard by SAR teams often after having driven long distances in the middle of the night to reach incident base just to find out the subject has been found and you can return home. Members of the Los Alamos Fire Brigade Search and Rescue Team heard the phrase three times in a 30 hour span in which we participated in four back-to-back missions.
Starting Sunday, August 9th around 9:00 p.m. mission 96 is for an overdue hiker in the Pecos Wilderness. Given the Pecos Wilderness covers a vast area it makes sense many teams would be needed to cover the area four of us headed out. On the way up to the Santa Fe ski basin we heard over the radio incident base had managed to contact the subjects cell phone. Arriving at base we learned that incident base now had coordinates for the subject and a team of searches was closing in his location with another team already heading up the trail. We would not be needed that evening. Stand down. Before heading home we took a few moments to enjoy the dark skies where we could clearly see the Milky Way and catch a spectacular meteor streak across the sky.
After a short nights sleep mission 97 found the team heading out of town around 10:00 a.m. Monday August 10th toward Las Vegas NM for another overdue hiker. What would have been a long drive was interrupted before we even left town with the stand down. The subject had been found. Great news!
A good night’s sleep was not to be had as mission 98 called on us at 10:00 p.m. Monday night to help locate four missing persons near the Jemez Falls campground. We arrived at incident base to several vehicles from the La Cueva Volunteer Fire Department. The Incident Commander informed us La Cueva had a team with the subjects and were escorting them out. Stand down. No, wait, the La Cueva team has just requested additional help in hiking the subjects out. Three members of the Fire Brigade and one member from an Albuquerque SAR team hit the trail and provided lights and route finding. The rest of the Brigade team held back in case additional resources were needed. Everyone made it safely back to incident base and we dodged deer and elk on our way home.
Before we could reach home after mission 98 we learned of another mission over in the Pecos Wilderness for yet another missing hiker. Tuesday morning August 11th, Tired but already packed and on the road, we decided to assist in mission 99. Halfway to the Santa Fe Ski Basin came the now familiar call – stand down.
Standing down can bring about mixed feelings. Knowing the subject has been found is always good news but not getting to hike in the woods after hours of driving can be disappointing. However, knowing that any one of these mission could have gone another way and our presence would have made a positive difference in someone’s life keeps us lacing up the boots, grabbing the pack and getting behind the wheel.