SES Assistance at Warakurna Land Search
On Tuesday 16th February, Kalgoorlie SES volunteers answered the call to assist with a land search operation near the remote aboriginal community of Warakurna, in the Rawlinson Range near the West Australian / Northern Territory / South Australian borders.
The initial police request was for 2 air observers and 2 land search trained personnel. Shortly afterwards, Brian Dunphy and Jenny Roodt (air observers) and Nate Willis and Trevor Jones (land searchers) flew to Warakurna on a charter flight.
Their deployment was for 3 days and included numerous air sorties and assisting police with ground searching and search planning. With the remaining missing person still not found, additional SES resources were requested, with the quickest option being to fly out of Perth due to the huge driving distances involved.
On Friday 19th February, Armadale SES volunteers Connie Eikelboom, Jasmine Eikelboom, Ron Stroet, Michelle Race, Brian Race and Jodie Maddox, as well as Kalamunda & SWORD SES volunteer Ron Davey, accompanied by District Officer Matt Reimer, flew to Warakurna on a charter flight, via Warburton. Again it was a 3 day deployment, mainly involving assisting police with the effective searching of several areas of interest.
All of the SES volunteers involved should be congratulated on their willingness to deploy to such a remote area and their professionalism in completing their roles under very harsh conditions, long distances and even longer days.
They couldn’t have found themselves in a more remote location, with the nearest town of Yulara (Uluru) 330km to the west in the NT and the nearest WA town being Laverton, 800km away. Their efforts were praised by police who were very grateful for the assistance provided.
