In the fall of 2023, Newry Fire Chief Alan Fleet was frustrated.
He and several other first responders had spent seven hours on a cold, rainy night searching for a hiker who fell on Wight Trail and didn’t know his location. It was the department’s fourth rescue that year. One involved a teen who wandered from his group and required 51 searchers and 14 hours to find him.
“Our little Fire Department just cannot handle this,” Fleet said, crediting as many as seven game wardens and up to 14 people from Mahoosuc Mountain Rescue for their support. “They are a lifesaver for all of our towns with these hiking trails. If it wasn’t for them all the areas would be in trouble.”
About six months ago, several of Newry’s 11 volunteer firefighters downloaded the What3Words app. The free geocoding program divides the world into 10-by-10-foot squares and assigns each one a unique three-word address. Traditional addresses or landmarks often don’t exist in rural areas, making it difficult for rescuers to find people.
Using the app is simple: a lost or injured hiker taps the “Locate Me” icon, and the three-word address appears at the top of the screen. They read the words to the emergency call taker.
This year, Newry firefighters have rescued five or six people on the 50 miles of trail in the Mahoosuc Range. A distressed hiker’s 911 call often will go first to state police in Augusta, Fleet said, then to Oxford County Regional Communications Center in Paris, which sends the rescue tone to Newry firefighters’ pagers.
“You say those three words, it pops on the phone with the GPS coordinates, a phone number. It usually takes ten or fifteen minutes off (the rescue),” Fleet said.
Part of the appeal is the system’s simplicity. Each three-word address, such as balloon.dog.mountain, refers to one precise location on earth. Users can enter the address into the app or compatible GPS devices, which convert it to latitude and longitude. The system is especially useful in rural areas, parks and places without traditional addresses.
Nothing beats preparedness
Fleet cautions that the tool has its limits. He said the system is “probably 90 times better,” though not perfect. Location accuracy can vary depending on the hiker’s phone carrier.
Recently, a hiker’s coordinates showed them in Greenwood instead of Newry. Another time, a lost skier’s GPS pinged as Russia. The skier was actually behind Merrill Hill in Newry.
“We called Sunday River and a snowmachine took him down the hill,” Fleet said.
The inconsistencies have also contributed to a mixed response from agencies elsewhere in Maine. Franklin County Sheriff Scott Nichols Sr. said he and his staff are not using the app, noting they had to Google what it was.
Augusta Communications Center Dispatch Operations Manager Mike Labbe said, “We have used it occasionally in the past — very sparingly. Typically if someone dials 911 we can get a better location on them (now, than in the past). It’s a rarity nowadays where we can’t (get their location).”
Labbe said they may see a sharper increase in What3Words use now that it is integrated into the new statewide 911 mapping system, which they switched to Oct. 22.
The app can be used verbally or through texting. Callers can give dispatchers their three-word location, or dispatchers can provide the location to callers.
Other state agencies are watching but not yet adopting. Maine Department of Inland Fisheries & Wildlife Communications Director Mark Latti wrote in an email that the department does not use the app currently. He added, “I am not sure how many departments or agencies use it, but the Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office does, and state police dispatch is testing it out.”
Latti, who spoke with two longtime search and rescue game wardens before responding to a reporter’s questions, urged hikers to take preparedness seriously before heading into the woods.
“We encourage people not to rely solely on their cellphones when they go out into the woods when hiking or for any other outdoor adventure,” he said. “Batteries can die on cellphones, and cellphone service in parts of Maine is poor or nonexistent.
“People should be prepared if they go out in the woods,” he said, “and in addition to their cellphone, bring a compass, first aid kit, food, water and layers of clothing, and make sure that they tell someone where they are going and when they expect to be back. It is always a good idea to hike with someone else so they are not alone. People should also know their limits, and pick hikes that are appropriate for their abilities and experience.”
Latti acknowledged the three words app can be useful, but that users need to be aware of its limitations.
“The three words app may be helpful in some cases, but if you are in the woods with a dead cellphone, or in an area with no service, even if you have the app and the three words that mark your location, you have no way to get that to emergency personnel in order for them to rescue you,” he said.
For Fleet, the app is one more tool not the whole solution.
The new software helps speed up searches, he said, but speaking directly with the hiker to confirm landmarks remains essential.
He explained how a rescue call from Oxford County might come across: “beep, beep, beep, Newry Fire, Newry Fire we’ve got a back country rescue on the Appalachian Trail on Bald Pate Mountain.”
He said he will ask, “Is it West Bald Pate, South Bald Pate or Bald Pate?”
When dispatchers can’t confirm, “That’s where the coordinates or the three words will help. But having the hiker’s phone number helps pinpoint it further,” Fleet said.
He’ll ask: “Have you hiked past Speck Pond? Are you hiking north or south? Have you climbed over the Mahoosuc Notch boulders that are the size of houses? …”
Fleet said, “Ninetly-nine percent of the time all the hiker knows is that they are on a trail.”
This story was originally published by the Maine Trust for Local News. Rose Lincoln can be reached at [email protected].
