SATURDAY, MAY 25, 2019 

VOLUME 13 NO. 21

SIERRA MADRE SEARCH AND RESCUE EFFORTS CONTINUE 
TO AMAZE A GRATEFUL 
COMMUNITY


Story By Carolyn 
Grumm and Photos 
courtesy of SMSR. 

The Sierra Madre 
Search and Rescue 
Team’s (SMSR) busy 
season started when 
they received 7 call 
outs over a 5 day period. 
The Team responds 
to about 100 
calls for help in an 
average year, but the 
bulk of those calls 
come in spring and 
summer. One recent 
week kept the volunteer 
team members 
quite busy. 

Friday April 19

Just after noon, SMSR 
was requested to assist 
the San Dimas 
Mountain Rescue 
Team with a car that 
had gone over the side 
of the twisty mountain 
road of Highway 
39.Multiple agencies
worked together and 
SMSR’s responsibilities 
included rappelling 
300 feet down to 
the vehicle and evaluating 
how to access 
the crash site. They 
then worked with the San Dimas Mountain Rescue Team and the Los Angeles County Coroner’s Office 
to recover 2 deceased subjects. 

Saturday April 20

At noon the Team responded to Hermit Falls in the Chantry Flats area. This would be the beginning 
of a full day, and their first of three trips to Hermit Falls this weekend. SMSR responded alongside the 
Sierra Madre Fire Department to a subject with a broken ankle. The fire department and SMSR provided 
medical care and transported the patient in a wheeled litter across more than a mile of narrow 
trail to the trailhead where an ambulance was waiting. 

Saturday April 20

Less than an hour after team members returned from their first call of the day, they were again paged 
out to Hermit Falls. This subject had suffered a head wound. Team members provided ground support 
as LASD’s Aero Bureau Air Rescue 5 hoisted the subject and transported them directly to the hospital. 

Saturday April 20

As team members hiked 
out of the field from Hermit 
Falls a concerned husband 
requested help in locating 
his wife who was overdue 
from a hike. SMSR gathered 
more information while 
field team members grabbed 
a quick snack and changed 
into dry socks. Team members 
were just heading out 
into the field on their search 
assignments when the missing 
hiker was located walking 
into the parking lot. 

Sunday April 21

Sunday evening SMSR was 
again called out to Hermit 
Falls. A male subject had 
slipped and fallen at the falls 
and broken a leg. Again, 
SMSR provided ground 
support as LASD’s Aero Bureau 
Air Rescue 5 hoisted 
the subject and transported 
them directly to Huntington 
Memorial Hospital. 

Monday April 22

Monday evening the Montrose 
Search and Rescue 
Team requested SMSR to 
assist in a search for lost 
hikers. With limited information 
on where the hikers 
were, SMSR crews were sent 
up Bailey Canyon, Mount Wilson Trail and the Winter Creek trails. The hikers were located on Upper 
Winter Creek Trail and hiked out uninjured with SMSR team members.

Tuesday April 23

In their 7th call out in 5 days SMSR received a call Tuesday evening for a hiker with a broken ankle 
near Fern Lodge on the Sturtevant Falls Trail. This would be the end of a busy stretch of days for the 
Team, but just the beginning of their busy spring and summer season. 

Since 1951, the all-volunteer Sierra Madre Search and Rescue Team has responded to calls for help 
in the local mountains and beyond. SMSR also provides a range of wilderness safety programs. The 
Team never charges for any of these services, and is funded entirely by charitable donations. For more 
information, to donate, or to arrange a wilderness safety demonstration for your school or group, visit 
www.smsr.org. 

SMSR01May A SMSR crew is lowered 300 feet to access a 
car crash site.

SMSR team members provided ground support preparing a subject for 
a hoist from Hermit Falls with LASD’s Aero Bureau Air Rescue 5.

ON MEMORIAL DAY MAY 27TH, 
POST 3208 WILL HONOR 
VETERANS AT 11:AM AT PIONEER 
CEMETERY, 601 E SIERRA MADRE 
BLVD, SIERRA MADRE, CA 91024. 

This is a date to pay tribute to our heroic 
patriots who bravely rose up and 
fought for something greater than themselves, 
selflessly laying down their life for 
freedom. 

As we gather and observe this Memorial 
Day, we carry on a tradition dating back 
to 1866, embracing the feeling of patriotism 
and pride while honoring the best 
and most noble of us all

Dave Loera

Commander

11th District, Department of California


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