Pima County Sheriff's Dept. hands over hummer to rescue group
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Posted 9:21 PM 6/30/2011 : SARA gets seized H2 Hummer
TUCSON - A $50,000 H-2 Hummer seized from drug dealers will now be used by the Southern Arizona Rescue Association to save lives. The Pima County Sheriff's Department seized the vehicle about 10 years ago, and used it for community events. So today it turned over the keys to SARA.
Bureau Chief Rick Kastigar says, "We're delighted to be able to give it to them it's going to be a great tool for them it's got 4 wheel drive capability goes up Mt. Lemmon during the winter."
The Hummer is large enough to carry 5 members of the search and rescue team and also big enough to carry their equipment. Deputy Eric Johnson says, "The Southern Arizona Rescue Association will be able to transport people to search locations cutting down on parking extra vehicles at the staging areas."
Rich Kunz says the vehicle couldn't have come at a better time. He says they're down one vehicle but this one is much better. "The Hummer is excellent for what we need, it's got the ground clearance the 4 wheel drive capability of towing a trailer so if we needed it to tow a boat to a lake for a recovery or something like that."
Brooke Fawcett volunteers with SARA she says they respond to 150 calls a year. They're getting into a busy season. "Now that the monsoons are starting there are some hot spots around town that kids love to go to so we end up with a lot of calls this time of year. She adds the sheer number of people going out to the hot spots increases the chances for medical issues.
The vehicle is equipped with radios which will allow for better communication with the sheriff's department is rural areas of the county.
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