SUVs to the rescue in volunteer team.

Byline: Rebecca Nolan The Register-Guard

A late-night phone call to Jack Peters' house usually means one thing: Someone's in trouble and the Lane County sheriff's office needs his help.

If he picks up the phone - and he always does - he's often guaranteed a night spent out in the snow or rain trying to find a missing hunter or mushroom picker or hiker.

Peters coordinates the year-old Special Vehicles Group, a team of a dozen volunteers who own rugged four-wheel-drive trucks and are willing to use them to back up the sheriff's search and rescue team.

Other than the occasional tank of gas, the team members, eight men and four women, receive no compensation for their time or the wear-and-tear on their vehicles, mostly gear-laden Jeeps and Land Rovers.

But it's not money these people are interested in.

For Ruth McCully of Eugene, it's the chance to help others, an intrinsic part of her Christian faith and heritage as a native Oregonian.

"The way I grew up, you fend and look out for yourself, and you also take care of your neighbor," McCully said. "It's about caring and loving and looking out for one another."

For Mark Miller of Springfield, it's the personal satisfaction of conquering the wilderness in his Jeep Grand Cherokee.

"I like the challenge of going where other people get lost and finding my way out of there," he said.

For Andrew Laird, McCully's husband, it's an opportunity to do something he's enjoyed since he was a kid, while at the same time improving his off-road skills.

"We've had a lot of great training," he said.

And for Peters, it's a great excuse for buying all that expensive gear.

"The adrenaline's a powerful thing, too," Peters said. "You almost look forward to the phone ringing."

Peters works in the pretrial release office at the county jail. He also publishes the Web-based GPS Navigation Magazine and has written a GPS navigation guide and an off-road field guide. He met John Miller, coordinator of the sheriff's search-and-rescue team, a couple years ago, and the two got to talking about forming a special vehicles group.

Eventually the talk turned into action and Peters recruited the team from two local four-wheel-drive groups. The members are responsible for outfitting their trucks with enough supplies to provide for themselves and anyone they rescue for one or two days. They also carry tools, recovery equipment, a first aid kit and survival supplies.

In recruiting, Peters tried to find people scattered throughout the county with diverse knowledge of Lane County geography. The team holds monthly meetings and receives regular training in topics such as search-and-rescue skills, GPS technology, radio communications, navigation and off-road driving.

The year's been busy so far. Team members participated in the successful search for two girls who went missing at a Salt Creek campground in June and assisted in the search for missing hunters and mushroom pickers this fall.

During the recent snowstorm, they drove snowed-in medical personnel from their homes to work. Last weekend, they helped free a car stranded in the snow near Cougar Lake.

Mark Miller says he likes the "warm, fuzzy feeling" he gets when the people he tries to help express their thanks. Twice he has participated in searches for people he has known through some other acquaintance.

"You learn that, in a way, you're not that far removed from the people you're looking for," he said.

CAPTION(S):

Special Vehicles Group members help to free a snowbound vehicle above Cougar Lake last week. The group has also been called to help search for missing hunters and campers.