No matter your opinion of Ed Kilgore as a person or as a sheriff, there is one fact that cannot be refuted. Shortly after he was elected, Ed formed a Search and Rescue team and to my knowledge it was the first for Humboldt County. Through his support and backing, this team has expanded to what it is today. From its meager beginning of only a special programs director and an old pickup truck, the unit now has 65 members and is assigned several vehicles including those capable of off-road use. Many of the team members are certified by the National Association of Search and Rescue and in-house training is continual. One member has certified search dogs and is always on call. There is a mounted team within the unit which is available when needed. People with 4x4 vehicles have donated their assets and their skills. There are also three pilots who will fly their personal aircraft upon request. None of this could have been accomplished without the sheriff's and his admin staff's support.
During Sheriff Kilgore's tenure many missing people have been found and have been rescued by the Sheriff's Search and Rescue team that might have otherwise perished. Coincidently, just this past Monday (Nov. 3) two individuals who were confined in their vehicle on a very remote trail at 8,000' elevation above Lye Creek Campground in the Santa Rosa Mountains were located and rescued by the search and rescue team. Their situation was perilous at best. They had spent one night in the icy, snow covered terrain and were about to spend another when they were finally located. It was a complicated, technical search that was managed by the sheriff, undersheriff, and commander and was orchestrated by the search team in the field.
I for one, as will other team members, miss the involvement and close support Ed, Curtiss, Dave and Casey have provided our team. We were never an "outside" group, but always from the beginning, an integral part of the organization.
Barry Heigher
Humboldt County Sheriff's Office
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