FREMONT COUNTY, Colo. - If a massive flood ever threatened our state - who steps in to calculate how bad the damage is? It's an auxiliary of the U.S. Air Force called the Colorado Wing Civil Air Patrol.
A group of the Colorado wing met Saturday to practice a number of drills used in preparation for statewide emergencies.
"There's lives on the line, so if there's ever a missing hiker in the area or in the state of Colorado and the Air Force calls on them to help, they need to be able to do that," said Lt. Col. Scott Snyder.
The drills consists of searching for missing hikers, finding a downed plane, or even capturing imagery from the sky to evaluate flooding.
"We spend a lot of time making sure our air crews, ground teams, and command staff are prepared to handle everything from a single airplane, up to seven aircrafts," said Maj. Robert Yusko, with the Civil Air Patrol.
The Colorado Wing Civil Air Patrol has more than 2,000 members across the state. To accommodate everyone, there are five separate drill days set up throughout the year to practice these scenarios.
So far this year, the team has saved three missing hikers and two people found in a downed plane.
"Their job is extremely important and it means a lot to me, because they are all volunteers so they are giving up their time and efforts to be out here to keep our state safe," said Lt. Col. Synder.
The Civil Air Patrol performs 85 percent of inland search and rescues for the U.S.
Original article can be found here ➤ http://www.krdo.com
No comments:
Post a Comment