FLAGSTAFF, Arizona — Agents for the Coconino County Sheriff’s Office were busy calling for weather-related assistance over the weekend of Martin Luther King Jr.’s holiday. We experienced rain, creating difficulties for both residents and visitors.

Below is a summary of CCSO’s activities over the holiday weekend.

• Driver Assist Call: 73,
• Traffic Accidents: 38 (of which 13 are under CCSO jurisdiction),
• Supporting other agency calls: 29,
• Public Assist Call: 19,
• Search and rescue calls: 7 (several others were reported, but 7 used SAR resources)

In addition to the above activities, the CCSO also responded to other service calls that typically occur on holiday weekends, including investigations into three deaths and two DUI arrests. Lawmakers spent a good deal of time enforcing Coconino County’s winter parking ordinance. This was done to remove vehicles parked on county roads to help Coconino County Public Works clear snow from neighboring roads. Delegates also spent significant time addressing snow play issues that arose in the Flagstaff, Parks and Williams areas. I issued a parking violation warning. Lawmakers also facilitated the towing of several vehicles that impede snow removal.

Search and rescue incident:

As noted above, CCSO has responded to several driver assistance and public assistance requests for assistance. Seven of these service calls resulted in the use of specialized equipment to rescue or rescue people stranded on Kaibab or Coconino National Forest Roads. The Coconino County Sheriff’s Office Search and Rescue team utilized two Snowcats, a snowmobile and a military surplus Humvee to carry out these missions. Each of these incidents took rescuers several hours, sometimes requiring an entire shift to complete.

These incidents are:

• Driver assists on Stoneman Lake Road and Lake Mary Road (Sunday)
• Five adults were extracted from Forest Road 110 in the Kaibab National Forest south of Williams.
• A single adult was extracted from Forest Road 302, east of Tusayan and south of the Grand Canyon National Park boundary.
• A snowshoe that fell and was injured in the east of Mundu Park.
• Welfare inspection and subsequent human extraction at Westwood Ranch, northeast of Seligman.
• Extracted a large group of people in the Kendrick Park area.
• Extract a few big names on Stoneman Lake Road.

As snow and weather continue to affect northern Arizona, the Coconino County Sheriff’s Office is urging residents and visitors to take extra preparedness actions, not only at home, but also in their vehicles if travel is required. I would like to remind you of

If the roads are bad, stay home as much as you can. If you need to travel, make sure you have the essentials in your car and have enough fuel. Check www.az511.com and social media for the latest information on highway conditions and www.weather.gov for current storm forecasts.