Deschutes SO receives statewide awards
The Oregon State Marine Board and the Oregon State Sheriffs’ Association presented statewide awards to the Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office and deputies during their annual banquets this month.
The Oregon State Marine Board recognized the Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office with an award for the Safety and Maintenance of our boats and related equipment. They were complimentary of how well our office monitors, cares for and maintains the equipment.
Two Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office deputies were presented with Life Saving Awards from OSSA. Deputy Jeremiah Johnson and Deputy Doug Sullivan received 2013 Life Saving Awards for their efforts on September 1, 2013 in the early morning hours.
Deputies Johnson and Sullivan responded to a reported house fire in southern Deschutes County on Evans Way in La Pine. They arrived within minutes and noticed a badly burned male subject lying on the ground approximately 20 feet from the fully engulfed residence. The heat from the fire was very intense but deputies quickly formulated a plan.
Due to the man’s injuries, they could not drag him to safety, so they quickly improvised a plan to use a small plastic children’s swimming pool as a makeshift stretcher. Using the pool, the two deputies were able to move the injured male to safety.
The victim was still conscious and advised the deputies no one else was in the residence, and he thanked them for rescuing him.
LaPine Fire Chief Supkis advised the actions of Deputy Johnson and Deputy Sullivan were heroic and that the victim would not have survived more than three more minutes due to the intense heat of the fire. Sadly, the male passed away from his injuries a few days later.
OSSA also presented Search and Rescue Volunteer Craig McClure with the 2013 SAR Volunteer of the Year Award. McClure has been a volunteer with our office for the past four years and averages over 500 hours per year with the SAR program.
He has been a SAR volunteer in Oregon for the past ten years and is recognized as a national expert in lost person behavior and was instrumental in the ground search management training program that is now being used in Oregon.
