Photo courtesy of Keweenaw County Sheriff Curt Pennala
Keweenaw Search and Rescue (KSAR), which is under the Keweenaw County Sheriff’s Office, recently acquired this rescue trailer, used for patient trail extractions.

EAGLE RIVER — Since it was started in early spring of last year, the Keweenaw County Search and Rescue (KSAR) has been steadily moving forward, growing in membership, gaining experience and learning as it goes, said Keweenaw County Sheriff Curt Pennala.

“Since May of 2022, our team has been meeting monthly, working on organizing and training, a well-rounded team of individuals,” he said.

The team members are the key to its efficiency, because they have knowledge of the area and each have specialties involving rescue.

Pennala said that the team has grown and currently is composed of 40 members from all over the county. Some are firefighters or first responders on the departments of their townships. Others live outside the county.

“We even have a retired doctor who joined the team,” said Pennala. “So, like I said, it’s pretty well-rounded team of individuals.”

In the past seven months, the search-and-rescue team has responded to several trail-related incidents, as well as one search.

Pennala said that while none of incidents was what he would consider life-threatening, the team gained valuable experience and learned a great deal.

One element of the search-and-rescue team Pennala has been trying to develop since the beginning of planning is high-angle rescue.

High-angle rescue operations involve terrains with slopes of 60 degrees or greater, according to Elite Rescue Technical Services. In those scenarios, the rescue personnel require a more comprehensive set of skills, as they rely entirely on ropes and other specialized hauling and hoisting equipment to access and rescue the people who are stranded.

“That’s still a work in progress,” he said.

Pennala began exploring the possibility of forming a search and rescue team in late July, 2021, after the Sheriff’s office conducted a rescue of two people stranded on the Lake Superior side of Porter’s Island during a storm. The two people rescued had been stranded on the island for several hours with inadequate clothing or shelter, before they could be reached.

When Pennala first announced his intention to form a search and rescue team, he said because of the attraction and the topographical features of the Keweenaw, it draws a lot of outdoor enthusiasts. In the last few years, during the COVID outbreak, and even prior to that, he added, the number of enthusiasts has been dramatically increasing every year, adding as tourism has really increased significantly, and search and rescues have increased proportionately, and part of the problem facing organizations in each township, is personnel limitations. The following year supported his statements

In June, 2022, the Sheriff’s Office was dispatched to Eagle Harbor for a report of a paddler in a canoe out past the bell buoy — a few hundred yards beyond the harbor entrance. It appeared as if they were having difficulty returning to the safety of the harbor. In that rescue,Deputy Matthew Eberly risked his life to successfully save the drowning paddler. He subsequently received a Lifesaving Award for the rescue.

Two months later, deputies from the Sheriff’s Office again responded to two separate distress calls resulting in the rescue of a female kayaker and a male boater. Also in Aug., deputies, along with personnel from the Lac La Belle Fire Department and the Keweenaw Search and Rescue (KSAR), were located a hiker with the aid of a private boat. She was brought to Bete Gris Beach, where other emergency personnel were staged. The hiker became lost when hiking the area off Smith Fisheries Road and approximately 10 hours, the hiker, extremely exhausted, ended up on a secluded shoreline near Bare Bluff.

Since its organization, the search and rescue organization has received support from the public, for which Pennala and the team are grateful.

“We had a fundraising barbecue back in Oct,” he said, “and we raised nearly $7,000, including donations.”

Another fundraiser has not been scheduled, said Penala, but may be planned for late summer 2023.

“Our mission continues to be the same,” said Pennala. “Our mission statement is “Service Above Self,” by providing search and rescue capabilities and education. We strive to make Keweenaw County a safer place to live.