When you get lost in WA, what's the cost to get rescued? Surprisingly little

Daniel Schrager, The Bellingham Herald

You might think that sending a team of specialists up a mountain for hours on end to carry out a tricky rescue would result in a hefty bill. But you’d be wrong.

While sheriff’s departments are responsible for search missions in Washington state, when someone gets lost or stuck while hiking, they often call in a specialized organization of volunteers. Doug McCall, the chairperson of Seattle Mountain Rescue, said that his organization is sent out on over 100 missions a year by the sheriff’s department.

“A typical mission may be something where somebody may sustain an injury or they have an accident in the backcountry, and they’re able to call 911,” McCall said in a phone call with McClatchy. “And then we would get activated by the King County Sheriff’s Office to respond to that mission.”

Seattle Mountain Rescue operates primarily in King County, where McCall estimates they have just under 80 volunteers. But other parts of the state have their own mountain rescue organizations as well. The Washington Mountain Rescue Association lists nine member organizations across the state on its website: Seattle, Olympic Peninsula, Bellingham, Tacoma, Skagit County, Everett, Whidbey Island, central Washington (Yakima) and inland Washington (Spokane).

https://www.heraldnet.com/news/when-you-gets-lost-hiking-in-wa-how-much-does-it-cost-to-get-rescued-surprisingly-little/