Volunteers of Mineral County Search & Rescue leave their families behind to help save those who are having the worst day of their lives.

Members of Mineral County Search and Rescue met during a briefing to find a lost motorist. The group meets on the first Friday of each month. (Heidi Bunch photo)

Volunteers of Mineral County Search & Rescue leave their families behind to help save those who are having the worst day of their lives.

These volunteers miss dinners, sleep and family events just to make sure your loved one comes home safe and sound. The phone call they each receive, places not only adrenaline into their system, but sometimes a touch of fear. Fear of the unknown; fear of what they may find and fear of what they may see but still  – they continue forward leaving no stone unturned to return the lost.

Each volunteer is unique in their own way. Some have a passion in rappelling; others have specialized vehicles used to get into tight areas; others just want to climb mountains or help with radio control, but each is needed.

In order to see the strengths and weaknesses that each member provides the team, practice must come into play.

Without knowledge, members were mustered to the Mineral County Sheriff’s Office where they were briefed regarding a lost motorist in the Aurora area of Mineral County on the night of Saturday, Jan. 18.

Even though members soon found out this was just a practice search, the adrenaline to get out in the area became apparent as people began getting paired together and sent to different areas to search for signs of the motorist.

In conducting an interview at both the Aurora and Borealis mine sites, it was reported from a security guard at the Borealis Mine that lights had been sighted in the Brawley Peaks area, right before dark. This narrowed the search in closer but volunteers of this organization continued to weed out tracks while moving towards the Brawley Peak area.

At approximately 11:15 p.m. two members of the team found the stranded motorists in the vicinity of where lights had been seen.

This practice search come with no cost to the public. The members pay for their own fuel. The equipment they use is self-funded as are classes, radios and vehicles. The main objective is these volunteers enjoy helping those in need. Whether it’s climbing to the top of Boundary Peak to help a disoriented hiker; finding a family whose truck has broken down on a Sunday joy ride; or searching for a downed airplane, the outcome for the members is always the same.

To see that the lost find their way home.

If you’re interested in Mineral County Search & Rescue, they meet the first Friday of the month at 7 p.m. in the Mineral County courthouse on A Street in Hawthorne.