Among the many called out for the search and rescue mission following the recent tornado strike in Kentucky was retired Calhoun County Sheriff Carl Ballengee and his wife Chris. Carl and Chris own two AKC registered bloodhounds which are ready to travel and help communities when the need arises, serving as members of the Tyler County Search and Rescue and are on call for all of West Virginia.
Carl’s 2 year old bloodhound Quad became a part of the Ballengee family at 3 months of age when he was purchased from Bluegrass Bloodhounds in Kentucky. That purchase was made possible through a grant Carl was able to receive with the help of the Grantsville Volunteer Fire Department. At 6 months of age Quad certified through K-Star, (Kentucky scent trailing air rescue), certifying in man trailing for finding missing people. Once Carl began training Quad, his wife Chris decided that she too wanted a pup to train and work as well. Gracie, their second AKC bloodhound was born on Chris’ birthday and is now 11 months old. Gracie’s purchase was made possible with the help of the Gilmer County Volunteer Fire Department and she was trained and certified by K-Star at 10 months old.
On December 10th, 2021 Carl and Chris, Quad and Gracie, left for Leitchfield Kentucky planning to train on Saturday December 11th and go through the certification course December 12th. Shortly after they had arrived at the hotel in Leitchfield, a storm came through. Nothing serious for the area, just a typical storm with wind and rain. However, Saturday morning proved a different story for many others in Kentucky. The news showed the devastating pictures of the violent storm that traveled through Mayfield, Kentucky where a tornado touched down. Shortly afterwards Carl and Chris received a call from Bluegrass Bloodhounds search and rescue, deploying them as well as others that had traveled to be there.
Mayfield was approximately two hours away from where the Ballengee’s were staying, sparing them from being hit, but driving into the path that the storm had taken quickly showed how blessed they were to have been a distance away. Trees were twisted and many of the tree tops were gone with only a few feet of the tree left standing. Driving through the area they drove over countless power lines, around toppled utility poles and highways riddled with debris. Upon their arrival to the staging area in the main town of Mayfield, they waited to find out where they were needed, watching as people took what items they could salvage from what remained of their homes and lives. A house with no outer walls and a baby bed left standing in what appeared to be a bedroom was an unnerving feeling for Carl and Chris with families of their own. While some salvaged, others in the area waited for help to arrive in front of where their home used to be. Now there was nothing. The community was grateful for the help.
Carl and Chris received their assignment at the Mayfield Consumer Products Candle Factory where nine people were killed. As of early Saturday, December 11, first responders had only rescued 40 of the 110 workers trapped inside the facility. Carl and Chris traveled with police escort due to the Army National Guard having the roads blocked. The Candle factory was declared a crime scene where FBI and other agencies were called in to investigate. Carl stated that while they were there, they watched as two of the nine bodies were pulled from the rubble. The mass destruction was by far the worst he and Chris had ever witnessed. They and the dogs continued working until late Saturday when further help arrived.
Bob Ferguson, a spokesman for the candle factory company said Monday, December 13, all 110 workers in the factory had been accounted for.
Carl and Chris provided pictures for this article, but stated that the pictures cannot do justice as to what it was like in Mayfield that day. Not only the sights but the scents as well will long be remembered.
On December 12th both Quad and Gracie successfully certified through K-Star.
Downtown Mayfield, Kentucky
