The terrain in the county just west of the San Luis Valley is an alluring destination for hikers, hunters, snowmobilers and backcountry skiers.
But those mountains also can make for difficult search and rescue missions, especially if those mountains are covered in deep snow.
To help find the missing, the county’s emergency management office recently received a drone to get to those places where an all-terrain vehicle, snowmobile or even a man on foot can’t access.
“Our vision is we’re going to be utilizing it for areas we don’t want to put people in,” said Terry Wetherill, the county’s emergency manager and search and rescue coordinator.
Wetherill cited instances where avalanche conditions were prevalent or cliff sides that might require search teams to utilize ropes.
In addition to lessening the danger faced by rescuers, the drone also can cut down the time needed to track down the missing.
“Even in a mile or two radius, it takes a lot of time for people,” he said. “There’s going to be some big savings in safety and time.”
Wetherill just returned from Denver, where he purchased an infrared camera for the drone that can identify heat patterns and make it easier to spot someone lost in the snow.
But he expects the drone also to be of service in summer when tree leaves can obscure visibility and tracks might not be as identifiable as they would in snow.
The drone and its fixtures weigh less than 50 pounds, meaning it also can be packed in if crews are traveling to a remote area.
Sheriff Fred Hosselkus said he hopes to use the drone to investigate lightning strikes in summer, a step that would allow first responders to get a quicker jump on wildfires.
The drone was paid for by the Rio Grande Watershed Emergency Action Coordination Team, which sprung up initially to monitor for flooding in the wake of the 2013 West Fork Fire.
RWEACT’s projects have focused on Archuleta, Hinsdale, Mineral and Rio Grande counties, all of which were hit by the fire.
Hosselkus said all four counties will have access to the drone.
©2016 The Pueblo Chieftain (Pueblo, Colo.) Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
