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Pend Oreille County Search & Rescue: The volunteers behind the call
NEWPORT — Pend Oreille County’s only Search & Rescue unit doesn’t run on a tax line, a federal grant or a hidden budget. It runs on people.
On a cold weekday morning inside the county’s Search & Rescue building, Captain John Siebert moves between trucks, radios and gear that look like the makings of a funded agency.
They’re not. Per RCW 38.52, Search and Rescue functions under the Sheriff’s Office, but is not funded in the Sheriff’s budget. The equipment and resources are provided entirely through grants and community donations, Siebert said.
The team covers nearly 1,800 square miles from the Spokane County line to Canada. They are the only Search & Rescue organization serving Pend Oreille County, and they also assist neighboring counties when requested.
“So far this year SAR has responded to 12 actual searches,” Pend Oreille County Sheriff Glenn Blakeslee said. “This includes securing crime scenes, locating lost hikers, assisting neighboring agencies, stranded motorists and others.”
Built by the community
Nearly every major tool they use has a story behind it.
There’s the 20-foot aluminum rescue boat equipped with a 150-horsepower motor, sonar, radar and an underwater camera — donated.
There’s the soon-to-be dedicated “Gus Bus,” a mobile command vehicle named for longtime member Gus Esteves, whose work helped carry forward the foundation established by founders Bud Johnson and Swede Bergau when the county’s Search and Rescue program was formed in 1972.
