FILE PHOTO
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July 04, 2023 - 11:55 AM
It was a very busy weekend for Central Okanagan Search and Rescue with crews responding to six emergencies including one rescue that required a helicopter that was almost called off due to darkness.
Ten search and rescue members were pulled from their operations at the wildfire on Knox Mountain in Kelowna to rescue an injured ATV rider in the Greystokes area at 6 p.m. Saturday, July 1, according to a media release from the rescue group.
A helicopter with two medically trained volunteers flew into the area while a ground team with ATVs and a UTV was deployed in case it was too dark for the helicopter to evacuate the rider.
The helicopter team was able to secure the rider and take them back to Kelowna for treatment just “moments before helicopter operations had to be shut down,” search and rescue said.
Early that same day, members were called to help Kelowna RCMP find a missing swimmer in City Park early in the morning and there was a positive outcome, according to the release.
That afternoon, 22 members were called to work alongside Kelowna RCMP to respond to a wildfire on Knox Mountain, performing tactical evacuations in the area and informing residents about any evacuation alerts in other areas close to Knox Mountain. Meanwhile members of the boat team were on the water clearing an area of curious boaters so helicopters could access water.
On their way back to the marina, the rescue boat team helped two female paddleboarders who were walking along the shoreline trying to get back to Paul’s Tomb after being blown down the lake.
On Sunday evening, the boat team was called to help a stranded boater on Okanagan Lake but got a call the boater had managed to get to shore moments after volunteers were dispatched.
Just after midnight on Monday, the rescue organization was called to find an elderly female who was missing in the Postill Lake area after she’d gone hiking and hadn’t returned. A team of 11 members were on their way to the area when RCMP informed them the hiker had been found and was safe.
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