By SDF Firefighter Dan Solis - Kern County Fire Department
At around 11:00am on April 19, Sandi and I were called to the scene of an accident on State Highway 58 between Keene and Tehachapi, CA. The Highway Patrol suspected the accident had happened the previous night. It was a high-speed, single-vehicle rollover with one fatality (the deceased victim had already been extricated from the vehicle). The car had settled about 100 feet down at the bottom of a steep embankment. Debris from the high-speed accident had been flung far and wide, with some scattered in nearby trees.
On-scene personnel, including CHP, did an area search. They did not believe there had been any other occupants in the vehicle who could have survived, but the Battalion Chief requested a Search Dog Team to check the area to be sure. Sandi and I arrived on scene within 20 minutes. We began our search away from the scene, working in toward where the victim had been found, and making a thorough check of the car. In case an injured survivor had managed to pull themselves from the vehicle, we also searched a nearby drainage pipe and a small rock pile. We’ve been partners for many years and Sandi is still as strong as ever. He's a good boy.