I was recently at a Federal center that dispatches firefighters for much of the United States and three provinces in Canada. The mission of these firefighters is focused on forest fires on federal lands. The place was very impressive and is in Campton, New Hampshire.
The very nice lady who was conducting the tour for about 40 fire chiefs asked the group if we only fight structure fires. A hardy chuckle went around the room, and a chief said, “We handle whatever comes through the door. We never know what we will be doing in the next 10 minutes.”
Such was the case when we were called to find lost hikers on Mount Kearsarge at 4:30 PM on the afternoon of April 16. The mountain does have many trails; however, there are a lot of woods to get lost in when a hiker is not paying attention.
The search teams loaded personal four-wheelers and our Gator and brought them to the assembly point at the Andover Main Street station. Maps were brought out to align the coordinates that we were given by 911 in order to find the safest path to the hikers.
Though our teams are all at home in the woods, proper care must be taken to assure a safe and successful outcome. Portable radios are assigned to two-person crews, along with water and a gear check. Crews are assigned a location and are signed in the log to make sure all responders are accounted for. The ambulances from Andover EMS with EMTs are dispatched to the staging area for quick medical response for either the hikers or searchers.
Due to the lateness of the day, the helicopter from Dartmouth Hospital was called to aid in our search. New Hampshire Fish and Game also provided a team to search.
It was a new experience for us to direct the helicopter to search locations. It tested our map reading and compass skills. After several attempts, the helicopter crew was able to visually see the lost hikers. The Fish and Game crew was the closest and led the hikers out of the woods. The good news is that the three hikers were a bit cold and bug bitten, but no worse for the experience.
A review of the incident was shared around our meeting room table, along with lots of pizza. The hikers and the team are home safe, and the Chief is sitting back thinking, “I wonder what we’ll be doing 10 minutes from now.”