Wildfire smoke curbs Civil Air Patrol exercise

Smoke from wildfires hindered a statewide Oregon Civil Air Patrol search and rescue exercise on Saturday .

During a simulated search and rescue mission, an Oregon Civil Air Patrol Aircraft was forced to return to base in Bend as smoke impeded the air search efforts in their assigned area.

The wildfire was burning near Warm Springs at the time of the mission and had burned over 36,000 acres as of Saturday and was 3 percent contained. The fire also forced evacuations of homes and a resort in the area.

As a result of the fires, Oregon Civil Air Patrol redirected their search exercises Saturday to other parts of the region.

Nearly 100 people were participating in Saturday ‘s search and rescue exercises at Aurora, Bend, and Medford. Six aircraft flew in search scenarios focused primarily between Creswell and Newport.

Other scenarios included aerial photography of local infrastructure.

“The Oregon Civil Air Patrol provides a an invaluable service to the community, ensuring search and rescue, disaster relief and other emergency services capabilities are available statewide at a moment’s notice,” said Maj. Jeremy Roberts, USAF Operations Director for the Pacific Liaison Region.

“As an auxiliary unit to the Air Force, the Oregon Civil Air Patrol Wing is evaluated annually by active duty personnel in an effort to ensure the wing can safely, effectively and efficiently accomplish the mission.

“During the evaluation, the Air Force is assessing each functional area to include command staff, aircrew, ground teams, and a variety of support positions; all of whom must work together to successfully accomplish the simulated missions.” he said.

In addition to adult air crew and ground staff, the CAP are utilizing its teen-age cadet members in various ground support operations such as communications, mission base operations, ground search and rescue operations and aircraft flight line activities under the guidance of an experienced adult member.

“Our cadet members are a crucial force multiplier during our missions,” said Lt. Col. Ira Rosenberg, the Incident commander for the exercise. “They perform essential tasks that have a tremendous impact on the success of our multitude of operational missions.”