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RCMP helicopter joined in on search

RCMP helicopter that joined last week's search for two missing mushroom pickers came equipped with a device that can pick up heat signatures

THE RCMP helicopter that joined the search last week for two missing mushroom pickers came equipped with a device that can pick up heat signatures.

It’s called a forward looking infrared (FLIR) camera and can detect infrared radiation, typically called a heat source.

The helicopter spent more than eight hours over the search area early in the week and was called back up north where it had been based in the latter part of the week. A civilian helicopter from Lakelse Air was used the first day of the search on Sept. 23.

On the weekend, Focus, a consulting company working on a Trans Canada Pipeline planned natural gas pipeline in the area donated the use of a Lakelse Air helicopter and two of its employees, reported Dave Jephson of Terrace Search and Rescue.

The RCMP have had a helicopter up north since late August, part of its presence connected to Tahltan protests of a planned coal mine in the Klappan area.

It had already been used this month to fly out an earlier lost mushroom picker and an injured hunter, both up north.