By FMESA President BJ Jones
FRESNO COUNTY – It was a euphoric moment when a search and rescue team found missing four-year-old Chrstian Ramirez who became separated from his family on June 20, 2024 around 11:00 a.m. while camping at Rancheria Campground at Huntington Lake in Fresno County. The young boy was the focus of a 22-hour day and night search that involved many law enforcement and search and rescue teams from throughout California. It was the best possible outcome; the child was hungry and scared but alive and unharmed.
“It is always a huge sigh of relief and a celebratory moment of a job well done,” said BJ Jones, president of the Fire Marshal & Emergency Services Association (FMESA) and Law Enforcement Coordinator at Cal OES. “Search and rescues of this magnitude help the public to better understand the role of Cal OES law enforcement coordinators and what we do to support response efforts to search and rescues, wildfires, earthquakes, civil unrest, active shooter situations, mass casualties and other critical incidents. Our work is never done.”
Search and rescue missions are time sensitive emergencies and require immediate response and coordination. Cal OES law enforcement coordinators are responsible for coordinating search and rescue, and mission response.
When Christian Ramirez was first reported missing, the Fresno County Sheriff’s Office devoted all of its resources to finding the little boy. However, as evening was approaching, the Fresno County Sheriff’s Office enlisted the help of Cal OES Law Enforcement to bring Search and Rescue (SAR) resources and specialized equipment to assist in the search.
In addition to the resources provided by the Fresno County Sheriff’s Office, the Cal OES law duty officer was contacted to coordinate SAR resources from throughout the state. On the evening of June 20th, the Cal OES law duty officer coordinated with the OES Fire and Rescue Branch Aircraft “Intel 12” to use the plane’s high tech sensor equipment to search the area immediately surrounding the Rancheria Campground. Intel 12 is one of two aircraft that are used to map fires and detect heat sources associated with fires. However, it is available for urgent search requests based on its high-tech capabilities. The Fresno County Sheriff’s Office searched through the night working directly with Intel 12 which flew for nearly four hours.
In addition to Intel 12, the Fresno County Sheriff’s Office requested Search and Rescue Mutual Aid ground searchers and Area Search K9 Teams to assist in searching Friday morning, June 21, 2024 at 7:00 a.m. A briefing was held at the Kokanee Work Center located adjacent to the Rancheria Campground. Ground searchers from Mader, Tulare, Merced, Kern, Marin, Santa Clara Sheriff’s Offices and Cal SAR, as well as Area K9’s from CARDA (California Rescue Dog Association https://carda.org/) answered the call for assistance. In addition to Fresno Sheriff’s Office resources, more than 50 SAR volunteers responded to search for Christian.
Around 8:00, members of the Tulare County Sheriff’s Office Search and Rescue team found Christian Ramirez about a quarter mile away from where he reportedly disappeared. Christian was in good condition, but he was tired and hungry. He was reunited with his parents.
ABOUT Cal OES LAW ENFORCEMENT COORDINATORS: Most of the law enforcement coordinators work in and cover California’s seven Law Enforcement Mutual Aid regions. Regional law enforcement coordinators make up 85% of the peace officers assigned to the field while the remaining 15% are assigned to Cal OES Headquarters. All law enforcement coordinators work together during the various missions they are assigned to as first responders.
Recent critical incidents include coordination for Law Enforcement Mutual Aid (LEMA) at the various college campuses for the recent civil unrest related to the Israeli/Hamas conflict, coordinating LEMA at the various fires around the state, and multiple Search and Rescue Mutual Aid requests.
“Coordination and mutual aid are key to any successful public safety or search and rescue response,” said Jones. “Cal OES law enforcement coordinators are sworn peace officers with much experience and training. In all our work we put training and response first and heart and emotion, last. In a case such as Christian Ramirez, when the work is over and the child is found safe and sound, we can certainly and spontaneously shout ‘hooray’.”
