Special Report: Cost of mountain rescues and who pays

the sun city, have easy access to the largest urban park in the u-s. it’s beautiful … and for many – irresistible … leading some to explore beyond their limits, abc-7’s darren hunt takes a look at the cost of mountain rescues, and who pays for them in tonight’s special report: take package: “this is a pretty challenging trail … you guys are going to hike this today huh?” eve hernandez and his friends tackled the ron coleman trail in the franklins this week. “you do know if you go up too far, you get hurt, you can’t get down, they’re going to charge you to come get you?” “Yeah, that’s why we’re tryin not to go do the hard parts, try to take it easy.” th el paso fire department coordinates comsar — the “combined search and rescue teams. they’ve responded to nearly 40 mountain rescue calls since 2010 … including 11 in 2011, four in 2012, seven in 2013, five in 2014 and already seven so far this year — four of those in just the past month. “as the weather heats up, peopl want to enjoy the nice mountains, the state parks we have … ” deputy fire chief chris celaya finds himself in the middle of many mountain rescues. “municipalities are required to provide police and fire protection, this is above and beyond that … not every city has this type of danger.” the average bill for those who get stranded or hurt is more than fifty-four hundred dollars. the rate is based on a city ordinance, that allows comsar to charge “th responsible party on a per hour basis for each unit assigned to the incident at 82 dollars and 50 cents per half hour … ” it’s designed to recover costs and reduce the overall burden to taxpayers. but those responsible are not charged for everything. for instance, the fire department bills for only one of each type of vehicle sent out, despite additional ones sometimes being need. the sheriff’s office told us they do not bill for services when they’re called out. and if a helicopter is need, which customs and border protection estimates has happened at least a dozen times since the beginning of 2014, they don’t charge either. “once you start bringing in off duty people and it becomes an extended operation, you’re going to have an additional cost.” ” if people are using those resources, they should probably be billed for them shouldn’t they?” “We look at both sides, certainly we hear from the taxpayer that’s saying that’s above and beyond what my taxes are made to pay for … We certainly hear that and we hear from the other side, and you’re here to provide a service.” taxpayers do pick up the difference. “The preparation is a lot cheaper, making sure you look at the trails, you know the trails, you go up with people that are experienced, you have all the necessities … That’s the key to not getting a comsar bill.” “celaya said one of the mistake that many hikers make is believing that since their cell phone is fully charged, it will remain fully charged while they hike, but he said that’s not always the case in the mountains.” “keep in mind your cell phone i based on being able to hit a tower … When you start getting in areas that are maybe blocked by the mountain and it doesn’t hit, its continually roaming to try and get that signal back, that puts a drain on your battery.” hikers, like hernandez and his friends, need to know they can be billed for rescue. “its their fault for not coming prepared everything like that, so they should be the one paying for being rescued, not other people.” although much of the cost still falls to taxpayers. darren hunt, abc-7. some states and even outdoor clubs offer search and rescue insurance for those who do a lot of hiking. the el paso school