Members of Kachemak Bay Search and Rescue participated in a 3.5-day hands-on training session, Jan. 30 through Feb. 2, in Homer. By the end of the training, those 18 members were nationally-certified searchers.
KBAYSAR is an all-volunteer search and rescue team operated through a business license under the Friends of Kachemak Bay State Parks, a Feb. 2 press release says. They are also a member organization of the Alaska Search and Rescue Association, which supports SAR teams across the state with equipment, software and training.
Alison O’Hara, a member of the FKBSP board of directors, started KBAYSAR last spring. According to the release, she was galvanized by a search and rescue call-out that occurred in July 2024, after a hiker visiting from France was reported overdue for her pickup in Kachemak Bay State Park. Park rangers and volunteers mobilized and conducted a search for the hiker, who was ultimately self-rescued two days after being reported missing. The release states that this incident “underscored the need for a trained and organized local search and rescue group.”
“We tried to rally and put together an ad hoc group of searchers, but we didn’t find her — she found herself,” O’Hara said Thursday. “I just really felt like there was a need to have an organized effort, a team and a plan.”
O’Hara added that while there is a small SAR team in Seward, other than KBAYSAR, there currently isn’t another officially designated SAR team on the Kenai Peninsula.
The training course held earlier this month was facilitated by the MAT+SAR Search and Rescue group — a nonprofit started in 2003 that serves the entire Matanuska Susitna Valley and other locations throughout the state as directed by Alaska State Troopers — and saw participants from Clam Gulch, Anchor Point, Homer and Kachemak City/Fritz Creek. The course included practical scenarios with K9 dog teams and, according to the release, covered a range of topics including lost person behavior, wilderness first aid, K9 teams, search techniques, mapping and standard emergency response systems. Kachemak Emergency Services donated the use of their station and rescue equipment for the training.
MAT+SAR’s Mark Stigar and Susan Whiton served as instructors for the course, along with two certified SAR K9 search dogs and one SAR K9 in training. AST Search and Rescue Coordinator Lt. Benjamin Endres joined the first day of training via helicopter for a briefing on the statewide search and rescue system and aircraft safety. According to the release, he was joined by Meg Hammond and pilot Steven Ritter.
O’Hara explained that in the event that someone is lost or needs a rescue, the first thing they should do is call 911, as they will “unify all the different organizations playing a part in the rescue, depending on the situation” — including Alaska State Troopers, Homer Volunteer Fire Department, or others.
Currently, KBAYSAR’s area of operations is focused on Kachemak Bay State Parks, according to the press release, but O’Hara also said that they’re looking at trying to respond to calls north to Ninilchik, out East End Road in Homer and across the bay to Seldovia.
“There may be things out of our capability — we can’t do climbing rescues right now — but we will attempt to service those areas at this point,” she said. “This team is ready to go — I think we’d be willing to expand.”
KBAYSAR is also in the process of forming a partnership with the Homer Volunteer Fire Department, where HVFD would provide equipment — and trained personnel to operate it — that KBAYSAR currently doesn’t have and the SAR team would provide support and personnel. O’Hara said that KBAYSAR is looking at holding training sessions this spring with the fire department as well.
“It’s really cool to just network with everybody and offer our skills and personnel,” she said.
KBAYSAR has about 70 people in total on their roster, including the 18 that received national certification earlier this month. O’Hara explained that the 18 certified members are delineated at “Tier 1,” while the other members — who, although not necessarily nationally certified, have completed different trainings and bring additional expertise and skills to the table — are “Tier 2” and provide support to the Tier 1 searchers out in the field. KBAYSAR is currently managed by three team leads — O’Hara, Andy Haas and Kasey Aderhold, who also manages logistics and communications.
According to the release, in addition to ground search teams, there are many other ways to contribute to KBAYSAR including medical training, transportation, logistics and planning, grant writing and fundraising.
KBAYSAR also received their first grant on Wednesday, Dec. 4. The Homer Foundation granted $5,000 to the organization to acquire team vests with the KBAYSAR logo, life vests and climbing helmets. FKBSP also provided a $1,000 “match” for the grant.
O’Hara said last Thursday that they were “feeling like we had a very big week this week between the grant and the training.”
Learn more at www.friendsofkachemakbay.org/kbaysar
Members of the Kachemak Bay Search and Rescue group receive instruction from helicopter pilot Steven Ritter (left) on Jan. 30, 2026, during a training weekend at Kachemak Emergency Services station in Homer, Alaska. Photo courtesy Kasey Aderhold
Members of the Kachemak Bay Search and Rescue group receive first aid instruction from MAT+SAR Search and Rescue’s Mark Stigar (center left) on Jan. 31, 2026, during a training weekend at Kachemak Emergency Services station in Homer, Alaska. Photo courtesy Kasey Aderhold
