<\/p>\n
In November 2012, the<\/p>\n
Now the Sheriff\u2019s Office is assembling a regional dive team to conduct search-and-rescue and recovery operations in regional waters. And Pagosa Springs Fire District and Archuleta County, which reported four drowning deaths last year, Durango Police, Durango Fire Protection District and the Montezuma County Sheriff\u2019s Office are also interested partners.<\/p>\n
A first step toward that goal was taken on a sunny day last week, when officials went to Lake Nighthorse to test the department\u2019s newest asset: a 2006 decommissioned U.S. Coast Guard boat.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Dylan Redwine case, when we had to search a lake in November, really highlighted the need,\u201d Sheriff Sean Smith said. \u201cThere has never been a formal drive to do this.\u201d<\/p>\n
Southwest Colorado has traditionally sourced New Mexico for recovery missions like the Redwine search. But mishaps in La Plata County waters are expected to increase, particularly near Vallecito Reservoir starting this summer.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe track the campgrounds in the Vallecito area, and we saw a 30 percent increase from 2014 to 2015,\u201d Upper Pine River Fire Chief Bruce Evans said. \u201cWe\u2019re also seeing a dramatic increase in paddle boarders and flat-water kayakers. With the runoff being what it\u2019s been with a wet spring, Vallecito Creek has been a very attractive location to some of the more experienced and extreme kayakers.\u201d<\/p>\n
Slips are sold out at the newly rebuilt Vallecito Marina, which means more boats will make waves on the lake this year, the Sheriff\u2019s Office said.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo with all these changes and the burn scars healing over from Missionary Ridge and starting to look green again, it makes the place very attractive,\u201d Evans said. \u201cWe\u2019re trying to prepare for whenever you get a massive increase of people. There will be some kind of mishap.\u201d<\/p>\n
Most water incidents involving hypothermia in La Plata County are connected to Vallecito, where the water remains in the 50s even in summer. For this reason, the boat will be stored there with the fire district.<\/p>\n
Last year, Durango Fire Protection District 4, which covers that area, responded to 12 patients in water-related incidents, including a canoe tipping where three passengers went overboard. With no means of rescuing them, a sheriff\u2019s deputy found a civilian with a pontoon. By the time the three were rescued, they were near hypothermic.<\/p>\n
Those reports have nearly doubled since 2014, when there were five incidents, Evans said.<\/p>\n
There are a few dozen certified divers working with regional law enforcement and public safety agencies; Smith said the Sheriff\u2019s Office has about 10, though not all are trained for rescue.<\/p>\n
A rescue dive certification program for all participating districts is forthcoming this year, and LPCSO will team with Colorado Parks and Wildlife for a marine law enforcement class.<\/p>\n
The defender-class boat, surplus from ramped up U.S. Coast Guard patrols following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, is 25 feet long with a heated cabin. Valued at $184,000 in 2006, the Sheriff\u2019s Office purchased it for $40,000 with drug-seizure funds.<\/p>\n
Deputy Matt Webb, who worked as an engineer on the boat in the U.S. Coast Guard from 2002 to 2006, when he joined the sheriff\u2019s office, said the boat is capable of 46 knots, or about 52 miles per hour, at sea level.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis was purpose-built,\u201d Webb said. \u201cIt\u2019s multi-faceted for search and rescue as well as law enforcement operations.\u201d<\/p>\n
The boat needs some specialized equipment including marine radios, a GPS, depth-finders and side-screen sonar, which will be funded by the Southwest Region All-Hazards Advisory Council, a consortium of regional public safety agencies that administers Homeland Security grants.<\/p>\n
Smith said the Sheriff\u2019s Office will begin using the boat this summer, and the dive team and boat are expected to be fully operational some time next year.<\/p>\n