Searching for more room

When members of Vernon Search and Rescue are not helping people in the Great Outdoors, they are crammed into a space much too small to meet their needs.

Located in a building next to the regional district office, VSAR has boats, trucks, snowmobiles and all manner of essential equipment literally scraping the walls to fit into the building.

“When we are called on a rescue we are currently hindered in our response time due to the size and shape of this building,” said Mark Forsyth, VSAR director.

“We need to have our equipment readily available so we can get it out and respond in a timely manner.”

Things are so tight in the current building, VSAR members have installed strips of plastic along the walls to help slide boats and other equipment into place.

“We are very cramped in here. We have no space for any new equipment,” said Forsyth, adding they do not even have room for the equipment they already have.

So far in 2017, VSAR has responded to 84 calls for help and the number of calls is growing every year.

And so is the need for equipment.

A study has been done to see if it was feasible to expand the existing building, but because the swampy area near the current building is home to a protected toad, VSAR cannot expand and are looking at other options such as moving to a new location.

“We haven't got things planned out yet, but we are looking at different options of how we can come up with a building,” said Forsyth.

VSAR does not receive government funding and members fundraise for the equipment they have.

“We accept donations and it is toward the end of the year and if people are interested in donating to us they can go to our Facebook page and they can donate,” said Forsyth, adding tax receipts are given for donations over $100.