The U.S. Coast Guard Sector Air Station Humboldt Bay is continuing standardization training as well as a pair of search-and-rescue operations. On Feb. 4, the Coast Guard received a distress call by cell phone regarding a 23-year-old man who was swept down the Mad River while trying to rescue his dog. The following day, the Coast Guard assisted the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office with a search for two men in a raft who failed to return as planned from a day trip on the Van Duzen River. Deputies spotted a yellow object in the river and called in the Coast Guard, who flew over the area and confirmed that the object was a partially submerged raft. The Coast Guard continued to search the area from the air, while the Sheriff’s Posse was called out to conduct a thorough ground search. Eventually, family members of the missing persons contacted the Sheriff’s Office to report that the missing men had unexpectedly contacted their family. On Feb. 6, the Coast Guard flight evaluations continued, with standardization training exercises performed in conjunction with the Coast Guard Cutter Barracuda, stationed at Woodley Island. Exercises are expected to conclude this week.
(Source: The Eureka Reporter)