Labrador's new search and rescue teams aim to provide quicker response when disaster strikes

Troy Normore is used to helping people in distress.

So the chief of the L'Anse au Loup volunteer fire department jumped at the opportunity to be involved with the newly created Labrador Straits Search and Rescue in Forteau and is now the team's co-ordinator. 

"Before when someone got lost or whatever the case may be, the Rangers would be called, and just local people with knowledge of the area, to go in," Normore said. 

"This will be a great team to have in our area to assure the people of southern Labrador that they have a trained group of individuals that are ready for any type of search mission."

The new ground search and rescue team in Forteau and a corresponding team in Mary's Harbour were established this year after an inquiry into provincial ground search and rescue resources identified a need for more established teams in Labrador.

The teams were created after community and RCMP consultations, and Roger Gooby, executive director of the Newfoundland and Labrador Search And Rescue Association, said they're working to establish a team in Cartwright as well.

"It's great for us to be able to see the progress that's happening and we certainly look forward to working with these groups in the future," Gooby said. 

Normore said his team has about 22 applicants so far and had 14 members at a training workshop last week. They're working on getting their paperwork sorted with the RCMP so they can go out on searches.

He said two events — 14-year-old Burton Winters going missing on the ice near Makkovik and two fishermen going missing off the coast of Mary's Harbour — had an effect on him. Burton's body was recovered, while the fishermen were lost, and family members raised concerns about a lack of support and co-ordination of search and rescue teams.

"It wasn't good to see, obviously, these people going missing and not having the appropriate training resources in the area to look for these people or to assist others," Normore said. He said he thinks the tragedies also 

"It definitely affects the government, to finally realize that this team is needed for this area," he said. "I hope that they continue to give us this support along our endeavours and help us out in any way that they can." 

The Forteau group is looking for a place to store its search and rescue equipment and charge machines, Normore said. They will have ice rescue training with Labrador Southeast Coast Search and Rescue in Mary's Harbour in April. 

It hasn't been easy to provide training in every community, Gooby said, because of Labrador's geography. Gooby said they're also having difficulty getting enough people for the Cartwright team, he said. 

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