WOLFE COUNTY, Ky. (LEX 18) — Wolfe County Search and Rescue has secured $5 million in federal funding for a new operations center. The team currently responds to 60 to 80 emergencies each year, given limited resources.
"It's intense, your adrenaline is going, and it's also rewarding," said Kevin Osbourn, spokesman for Wolfe County Search and Rescue Team.
Osbourn has been with the search and rescue team for over three years and has been on countless rescues. He finds it gratifying to know that what he does saves lives.
"I was carrying a man with my teammates, I can hear him silently say, 'You guys saved my life,'" Osbourn said.
The federal funding will provide the team with advanced communications equipment and a permanent training space for the first time. The new facility will also include sleeping quarters and centralized equipment storage.
"It gives us one place to store all our equipment, so we don't have to keep our equipment at our teammates' homes across the county," Osbourn said.
The centralized operations center will mean faster response times when hikers or climbers need help. Osbourn credits Congressman Hal Rogers with securing the federal funding.
Once the operations building is complete, the team's goal remains simple.
"This new building will help us do what we do. That's rescue people, so others can live, and that's our motto," Osbourn said.
No timetable has been set for when the operations center will be built.
