EMERY COUNTY, Utah, July 17, 2024 (Gephardt Daily) — Some of the Emery County Sheriff’s Search and Rescue crew members were asleep when an emergency notice came to the local dispatch about a man wedged between two close sandstone walls in Zero Gravity slot canyon.
A Garmin device notified officials at about 10:30 p.m. Monday of coordinates for a group with one member, an adult male, trapped between the stone walls, and unable to escape.
“Our experience in the past has shown that when someone is wedged between canyon walls, time is of the essence,” said Emery County Sheriff Tyson Huntington in a news release.
“A call was sent out to our SAR Commander and SAR members. Most of our SAR members were in bed or otherwise turned in for the night. After the call went out, many of our SAR members responded and began to prepare to head to the Zero Gravity area to rescue this family.”
The rescue involved a high angle rope rescue team.
“SAR members responded to the Sheriff’s Office to retrieve the rope equipment and supplies and then headed to Zero Gravity,” the Sheriff’s statement says. “SAR arrived at Zero Gravity well after midnight. The rope team had to build the rope system necessary to effect this type of rescue. SAR members had to get rigged up and actually drop below the victim to help him be loosened from the canyon walls.”
The main victim and two people with him were extracted.
“While the SAR members were on the ropes and below the victim, the remaining SAR members were above them running the rope system, which is a serious amount of work. The Department of Public Safety also deployed one helicopter with a pilot and a two-man task force to help as needed. DPS personnel helped with running the rope system, which was a great help to the SAR members.
“The rescue was a success and all victims were saved and were able to avoid serious injury. Our victims were extremely grateful for the services they received. If it wasn’t for the SAR Team and their abilities, the outcome may have been quite unfavorable. SAR members returned home close to 6:30 a.m. just in time to go to work.”
Huntington shared high praise for the Search and Rescue team.
“I cannot overstate the importance of our Search and Rescue Team. All of our members are just regular people with huge hearts and a desire to serve others at the cost of themselves. None of them are just sitting around waiting for the phone to ring. They are all busy people with responsibilities to work, family, and other personal interests, all of which they sacrifice to serve others.
“Most of the time they are in a much needed cycle of beauty sleep when they are called to respond to the aid of others,” Huntington joked. “I have the pleasure to rub shoulders with these guys and learn from them. They are truly a band of brothers.”
The volunteer team members have “no desire for praise or accolades,” the Sheriff said.
“In the past, talk of compensation came up and the team collectively scoffed at the idea so loud that the National Weather Service noticed an anomaly in the wind patterns over Castle Country,” he joked.
“These guys are here to serve in the purest sense of the word and we are lucky to have them.”
