Locals form new search and rescue group

When the operating budget for Santa Rosa County was cut back, so were a few services.

In 2009, the county nixed funding its search and rescue team, an all-volunteer-trained not-for-profit group.

"We disbanded them for a number of reasons, one of them being they were a 501 (c) 3 and we are not able to cover them under the county's insurance," said Daniel Hahn, plans chief for the county's division of emergency management.

When the county relinquished its need for a search and rescue team, area fire departments picked up the task. Should search and rescue services be need, firefighters will be the first ones called, followed by members of the Community Emergency Response Team - CERT - in Pace and Navarre, Hahn said.

For more on this story, see the May 20 issue of the Navarre Press or subscribe online.