Yuma sector rolls out new rescue beacon

  The U.S. Border Patrol plans to install five new rescue beacons this week in remote areas of the desert near Wellton that illegal immigrants can use to signal for help.

  "The rescue beacons are strategically placed along routes undocumented migrants travel to enter the United States in the hopes anyone who is in distress will be able to locate one of them and summon assistance," said Yuma sector Supervisory Border Patrol Agent Ben Vik. "Historical data on entry, rescues and deaths have been used to determine the strategic placement of the beacons."

  The five additional beacons bring the number to 24 along the border in the Yuma sector, which extends from the southeastern corner of California to the Yuma-Pima County line.

  "The five additional beacons will bolster our rescue capabilities by providing more areas to locate a beacon and alert nearby Border Patrol agents to provide assistance," Vik said.

  Since their initial deployment in 2002, the rescue beacons installed throughout the Yuma sector have resulted in the rescue of 317 persons in distress, according to the patrol. Had it not been for the rescue beacons, most of these subjects would have died of exposure, the patrol said.

  Border Patrol started putting the rescue beacons up in 2001 after 14 illegal aliens perished in the desert near Wellton.

  Built by local Border Patrol technicians, along with the agency's office of information and technology, the beacons are mounted atop 30-foot towers and have flashing strobe lights that help illegal aliens to find them at night, as well as reflectors that can be seen in the day.

  "They also have solar panels that allow them to recharge themselves during the day," Vik said.

  Instructions for activating the beacons are explained in English and Spanish and by illustrations that appear on the beacon assemblies.

  Another feature of the rescue beacons is that each one has a red button which, when pushed, sends an electronic signal to Border Patrol dispatchers.

  "When the red button is pushed, a siren sounds," Vik said. "It's not a loud one, but you can tell that it was activated."

  The first time a beacon was used was the morning of June 15, 2002, when three border crossers separated from a larger group realized they were stranded in temperatures above 100 degrees, according to The Sun's archives.

  The men walked toward a reflective mirror in the distance, known to U.S. Border Patrol agents as Rescue Beacon No. 5. Agents, who would later find all 20 crossers alive and well, arrived at the beacon in 24 minutes.

  Signs alongside the beacons explain that Border Patrol agents may take up to an hour to arrive at the scene and that aliens who have summoned them risk death if they try to keep going, Vik said.

  So far in the fiscal year that began Oct. 1, four illegal crossers have died in the Yuma sector, compared with a total of 11 throughout the 2007 fiscal year, Vik said.

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James Gilbert can be reached at jgilbert@yumasun.com or 539-6854.