Commander’s Corner

Bill Pitterle 500
 

Don’t forget; the meetings this month are April 11th for the
Board and April 13th for the General Meeting.
 

ATTENTION ATTENTION ATTENTION

RUBICON FOR SALE
2003 Jeep Wrangler Rubicon

Click for larger picture

Like new. 7000+ mi. fully loaded with Warn 9.5ti thermometric winch, tomken bumpers, skid plates, Tuffy storage box, disconnects, 2" lift, CB, 7/60 warranty and more. White with black hardtop.

Asking $25,000. Price has been reduced to $24,000

Also, Big Tex trailer 30SA8 with tilt gate, lock and spare. Perm lic. Black $1000

And: Seaeagle 9.6 ft inflatable with all the seats, electric pump, hard floor, carry bag, dingy dolly, new electric motor, 5hp gas Nissan 4 stroke, 3gal remote gas tank used once. $1700 obo

Call Don Peters 928-472-7457.

 

For Sale

"TRSAR" clothing large size.
1) Cabela's Blaze Orange 100% polyester dress shirt with TRSAR's patches
2) Wear-Guard 100% polyester long sleeve with GCSO SAR emblem.
3) Wear-Guard 100% polyester short sleeve "T" shirt with GCSO SAR emblem
4) Red Knapp 65% Polyester 35% cotton long sleeve shirt with GCSO SAR emblem.

The package of the 4 items for a total of $30.00

Call Tom Sander 476-4076
 

VIP MEMBER PROFILES
This month's profiles will show when "two Les is much more".

Les Hulse -527

Les, grew up in Illinois, graduated from the University of Illinois with B.S. in Microbiology and Chemistry, worked as a Microbiologist- preservation testing, radiotracer studies, set up lab on Sardinia. He was a Database Designer at Gillette Co. and Computer Support, teaching computer techniques. He is married to Vliet, no children and is an avid traveler (especially trains), and loves pets.

This is the basic info that I received in feedback from a very unusual person. But for those of you who know this quiet unassuming man this but touches the "tip of the ice-berg". Les has since the very first month of his membership, July 1998, promoted and served TRSAR far beyond the norm.

One thing that stood out in that first interview was when he said he had hiked the Grand Canyon from rim to rim. I thought to myself "this little old guy did what?" Never underestimate Les Hulse; he will impress you many times over. Well, he has repeatedly shown us his skills at hiking, tracking, technical rope, navigation, Safe and Yes presentations, training (Basic Academy, indoctrination, classroom and field work). And then far beyond that, his skills and quiet approach to administrative issues were invaluable. The creation of the SAR Database was the Squads first chance to look back into the past records without pawing through dusty boxes of papers to hunt for needed information. The Mapping program makes it possible for a total stranger to find Trail Heads, road intersections, etc. Just keeping the information flowing into the database is a time consuming task. Then printing rosters and training schedules is something else. The personal donations given by Les are incalculable. Furthermore few in TRSAR have had the outreach that Les has extended to other entities (U.S.F.S., local groups, southern Gila county, and Young units of SAR, and never forget Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts). One of my favorite projects that have had his guiding hand on was the design for the needs and locations for the audio-visual equipment at the "Jim Martin Conference Room". Les has truly been involved.

It's a little hard to imagine that this little guy could manage all of the things he gets taken care till you find out, this hearing impaired man, 3 cats, 1 dog, and a loving wife, can live in one house without fur and hair all over the place.

I'm very proud to claim this fellow "Illinois Sucker" as my friend.
John Boyles 510L


Les Conner 506

Les Conner is the second half of our Les team. Les was born in Inglewood, CA. and moved about the west coast in his early years, CA, AZ, WA, finally finished high school in Big Springs, TX.

Les joined the United States Navy after graduating from high school. Naval Training Center, San Diego was so nice to him that he just stayed there in San Diego his whole enlistment. Since he was a Navy Hosp. Corpsman he probably has some stories to tell.
Following his military career, Les joined up with San Diego Co. Marshal's Dept., from which he retired in 1997. Along the way from High School to retirement he managed to work in a Hospital Corpsman Rating, with the Navy, an Associate Degree in Police Science, and a Bachelors Degree in Public Administration.

Les and he wife Phyllis live in Payson with an English Cocker named "Buddy". They also have two grown children. Some of the other activities he is involved with are Payson Elks, Tonto Rim Sportsmen's Club, Payson Men's Golf Club, Rim Country Four-wheelers, travel, hunting, and archery.

Les has a real personal reason for joining Search and Rescue. He wrote "My interest in joining Search and Rescue was stimulated when a co-worker's son was lost and perished due to exposure. I was present during the search and observed the tremendous effort the Search and Rescue teams made to locate the boy. I decided then, when I retired I would become involved in Search and Rescue efforts. I joined the San Diego County Sheriff's Search and Rescue unit when I retired, and joined Tonto Rim Search and Rescue when I moved to Payson."

Les Conner has displayed all of that enthusiasm since becoming a Squad member. How fortunate TRSAR is to have a sharp person that has the experience of other units to bring to our Squad. He has been very active in many projects and missions of the squad since joining. Les gave many hours to the Squad Building Improvement Project, especially when the heaviest labor work was done. Presently he is the chairman of the Membership Committee.

Next time I see Les, I'll tell him thanks for all his involvement. Hope you do too.

See this is one time when "two Les is much more".
John Boyles- 510L
 

Guest Article

REDMAN CAVE SEARCH - FEB. 24, 2001

It was about five years ago, but I still vividly remember the Redman Cave search.

There were some specific aspects of the search that were unusual and unique in my experiences in search and rescue work.

It was the first time I had been involved in a cave search. I have been in large, tourist caves such as; Mammoth Caves, Ky., Carlsbad Caverns, NM, and most recently, Kartchner Caverns, Az. (Highly recommend the Kartchner experience.)

But this was different. We had to crawl through an opening that wasn't much larger than Ron Crimmins shoulders. I still don't know how he made it through! After a period of crawling through different turns, we came into a large tunnel area where we could actually stand up and had room to move around, (still no place for individuals with claustrophobic feelings!)

Two young men had gone exploring into the cave with a minimal amount of safety equipment and had gone diving in the pools located down a shaft beyond the tunnel where we were stationed. The water, according to Sgt. Adam Shepard was like chocolate milk and visibility was extremely poor to say the least.

The two young men had been swimming (with no scuba gear) and had gotten separated. One of the individuals made his way out of the cave and was able to leave and call for help.

After a number of hours of searching, Sgt. Shepard with the aid of his scuba equipment, was able to locate the subject and extricate the body.

When the "901" call was relayed back to us, we knew the subject was deceased. The young man had gotten his foot caught in a crevice underwater and unfortunately drowned.

I have been in searches where a deceased subject has been involved, but the part of this search, the aspect of actively lifting out the subject in a black body bag and dragging him up through the shaft and pulling him out of the narrow openings., was unique.

I think it was the environment of the cave interior, the proximity and actually handling the body and the fact that he was 25 years old and my youngest son was also 25 at the time that heightened the emotional effect on me as an individual.
I believe all these factors coupled with the fact I have not had a lot of experience with dead bodies, must have affected me more, because I was visibly shaken when I finally got out of the cave.

An additional factor which I take responsibility for, is that I was the Safety Officer and I neglected to remind everyone to bring in water. We were in the cave for 5.5 hours. Perhaps the high humidity in the cave explained the reason we weren't more dehydrated. I'm also sure that our physical state coupled with the death of the subject added to the dramatic aspects of this unusual search.

Still another interesting aspect of the cave experience was that we were looking for an anchor for our rigging and usually we look for a "Bomb proof" anchor such as an oak tree or juniper etc. We experimented using "Friends" (anchors) in cracks in the cave sides but they didn't seem adequate. But there was a large boulder in the center of the tunnel area and we radioed out for 50' of anchor tape. Fred Berneche did an excellent job securing our anchor and with Fred's help, Ron Crimmins, Anita Carnine and Jim McMillion, we were subsequently able to rig our pulley system to raise the subject out of the cave shaft. (Fred, Anita and Jim are no longer members but this experience is not the reason)

Terry Murray and Jim Martin were in the shaft aiding Sgt. Shepard in the first part of the body removal.
I would also like to acknowledge the other TRSAR squad members including Dave Pirtle, Cliff Sage, Bill Daily and Les Hulse.
Deputy Craig Smith also aided, and Sgt. Terry Hudgens was our incident commander.

I apologize if I omitted anyone who was involved in the search and/or if I mixed up any facts of the mission.

Everyone involved was commended by Edward Guerrero, Cruz Salas, and Ronald Christenson from the Gila County Board of Supervisors and Sheriff John Armer for the TRSAR team who showed, "exceptional dedication and courage in an extremely dangerous situation."

Following this experience, I made up a "Safety" presentation with a suggested list for TRSAR in a future cave mission.

1. BRING WATER
2. Small rectangular duffle (rope bag size) for dragging through possible narrow openings to include water and the following. (a strap or handle on the end would be helpful)
3. Kneepads, and/or elbow pads…very handy if crawling is required.
4. If any climbing or descending is involved…rope techs should bring their harness and minimum soft and hardware.
5. Hard hat, head lamp, small flashlight, and extras batteries for both.
6. Radio with extra batteries…we needed extra radios to relay through the turns in the cave tunnel.
7. If the duffle is not water repellant…keep all supplies in ziplock bags as many caves are high in humidity and may have moisture present.
8. Bring some food.(we were in the cave for more than 5 hours) It wasn't easy to leave for a food break and we didn't….
9. Bring gloves for hauling rope and/or protecting hands if you have to crawl..
10. Wear layers - but nothing bulky…as you may have to go through narrow passages…it was considerably warmer in the cave than the outside February air..


SQUAD NEEDS:
1. SAR truck…we needed rope equipment.
2. At least 12 squad members if possible….we needed extra SAR members for hauling, moving equipment in and out of the cave, for radio relays, for outside the cave etc.

Respectfully submitted,
Ira Gibel - TR 501
 

Latest local search news can be found on this website at:

http://trsar.org/recent_missions/ybar-barnhardt_trail.htm
 

Tonto Rim SAR Members can now have your very own email address through our site. Just contact our Webmaster at Mail for the TRSAR Webmaster  to arrange for it, no cost to you or us.

We are promoted and you’ll also find our newsletter on the Rim Country Volunteer site;
http://www.inpayson.com/TRSAR-Payson-Rim-Country-Area.htm