Search Party

Last Monday and Tuesday I joined a number of volunteers helping the SES search for former orienteer Bruce Fairfax who had gone missing while on a small bushwalk to Duckhole Lake near Dover on Saturday. 

Both days of the search were physically arduous - after being assigned to a team we were given a search area and a task which was generally to fight through thick scrub looking behind every log, into every hollow and basically anywhere that a person could be.  By the end of it my legs were covered with bruises and scratches and my muscles were sore from all the clambering over obstacles and pushing scrub aside. 

I’ve never been involved in a search like this before. Now that I’ve seen one first hand I think that the SES are pretty awesome. On the Monday there were quad bikes checking all the dirt roads nearby, helicopters buzzing overhead and an experienced team of SES people on the ground leading the search teams.  I suspect it’s not possible to ever execute the perfect search, and I certainly don’t think the outcome would have been different in this situation, but I do have some suggestions for improvement should a search party ever need to be organised for me. 

Although we were slightly rushed due to Sunday afternoon commitments, we had a nice walk, and stopped to take a few photos.  I felt altogether better afterwards. I hope the family are able to get some resolution to this mystery in the not too distant future.

There's a a wrap-up of the search here.