Chief Stephen Carrier, in a prepared statement, said it was “with great pride” that he announced the promotion of Andrews, who will begin his new duties around March 1.

Andrews, who resides in Gilford with his wife Rae and daughter Delaney, joined Gilford Fire-Rescue in 1987 and was a appointed a full-time firefighter/EMT in 1992.

After Andrews gained a “considerable amount of experience” and advanced his emergency medical services skills to the Paramedic level, Carrier said he was promoted to lieutenant/EMT-P in 2006.

A search within the department for Andrews’ successor as lieutenant has already begun, said the Chief, adding that Andrews’ promotion will create a firefighter’s vacancy that will be filled, as soon as possible, from an existing hiring list.

Thanks to The Citizen for content of this announcement.

At approximately 6:30pm on February 1st, Gilford Fire Rescue was notified by the Gunstock Mountain Resort Safety Services that they had two lost skiers approximately 0.4 miles off of the end of Bickford Road and they requested assistance in locating them.  Two teenage girls from Concord and Laconia had skied off a ski trail near the top of Gunstock and had followed the Overlook hiking trail down the mountain.  As darkness approached the girls called 911 to report being lost.  The 911 operator was able to get a GPS coordinate from the cell phone and plot their location on a map.  This information was forwarded to Gunstock Safety Services who initiated a brief search prior to contacting Gilford Fire Rescue.

Personnel from Gilford Fire Rescue were able to plot the lost skiers coordinates on a  mapping program and get a more detailed location of the skiers.  FF Scott Mooney and EMT Scott Davis, both avid outdoorsmen, were able to drive the departments Argo all terrain vehicle approximately one mile along the Gunstock cross country trails at which point they hiked approximately three quarters of a mile to the lost skiers.  Both girls were uninjured but cold and were able to walk out of the woods on their own.  They were turned over to Gunstock Safety Services and reunited with their parents.  Additional Gilford Fire Rescue personnel covered the fire station and were prepared to provide additional assistance if needed.

The successful outcome of this incident can be credited to the close working relationship between Gunstock Safety Services and Gilford Fire Rescue and a two year project where the majority of the hiking trails and woods roads within Gilford were hiked and plotted into a computer based mapping program.  This extensive database allows for the more accurate locating of lost persons and better use of resources.

A lesson people can take away from this incident are that if you do become lost while doing an outdoor activity, you should stop as soon as you realize it and call for help.  Early notification may allow rescue personnel to locate you quicker.  People should also be prepared for the expected weather conditions by dressing appropriately for the time they will be outdoors, but also have additional clothing to keep them warm and dry if they become lost or injured.

Lt. Rick Andrews

Gilford Fire Rescue

After 30 years of dedicated service to

Gilford Fire Rescue

Chief John J. Beland

Has Retired

Please join us for his retirement dinner

Saturday, November 19, 2011

Pheasant Ridge Country Club

Country Club Road, Gilford

Cocktails 5:00pm      Dinner 6:00pm

Tickets are $37.50 each (portion goes towards his gift)

Contact Gilford Fire  Rescue to make your

reservations for tickets. 527-4758

(checks can be made to: Gilford Professional Firefighters)

Golf_tournament060527.htm

9th

Annual

Gilford Professional Firefighters

Golf

Tournament

September 16,2011