By SHANNON HAUGLAND
Sentinel Staff Writer
The Sitka Fire Department search and rescue team went to the aid of two hunters who got stranded on a steep hillside in the Nakwasina Bay area Saturday night.
The search and rescue team was called in at 6:07 p.m., Fire Department Senior Engineer Craig Warren said.
SFD search and rescue Capt. Matt Hunter said today some 24 volunteers spent 148 hours on the case. The department deployed a team of eight field personnel to the scene, 13 miles north of town, in the city’s Emergency Response Vessel.
Conditions were dark and foggy, but team members were able to spot the hunters’ lights from the vessel, and a team of four landed on the beach. The hunters turned out to be on a ridge south of Lisa Creek, Hunter said.
“That (SAR) team ‘cliffed out,’ and had to return to be redeployed on the nose of the ridge to join the second ground team,” he said in an email to the Sentinel. “It took a few hours to navigate the terrain to safely access the subjects. The subjects were in good spirits and ready to hike after receiving snacks, drinks and some warm clothes.”
Hunter said the two men took some right steps which helped the rescuers.
“These men were prepared and had a trip plan,” he said. “It’s always nice from a rescuer’s perspective to get a call at 6 p.m. instead of 10 or midnight. Anyone can fill out a trip plan at the fire department and borrow a VHF radio for free.”
The search and rescue team aboard the ERV escorted the skiff with the two uninjured hunters to Starrigavan, and then continued back to town, arriving around 3 a.m. Sunday, Warren said.
