Bigfork grad helps Japan recovery efforts

Derek Burgess, a 2008 graduate of Bigfork High School, arrived off the coast of Japan on Saturday as a crew member of USS Ronald Reagan providing search, rescue and humanitarian services to the victims of the earthquake and tsunami.

The son of John and Becky Burgess of Bigfork, he reported to the USS Ronald Reagan in 2009 when the aircraft carrier deployed to Afghanistan in support of men and women serving on the ground.

The Reagan deployed again in February but recently was diverted to Japan.

The ship made headlines recently when low-level radiation was detected on some crew members’ clothing and on one sailor’s skin. The carrier at the time was cruising 100 miles off shore from the stricken Fukushima nuclear power plant.

The radiation was not considered serious and the military personnel were cleared after a scrub-down.

As a precaution, American ships shifted to a different area off the coast, according to the Associated Press.