Trending Topics

N.H. first responders rescue boy trapped between boulders for 9 hours

Rescuers tunneled underneath the boy and used dish soap and friction-reducing sheets to free him

By Kathy McCormack
Associated Press

CONCORD, N.H. — Rescuers freed an 11-year-old boy who slipped between two boulders near his school and was trapped for more than nine hours, a New Hampshire fire chief said Monday.

The boy was pried out of the boulders in Windsor at about 3:15 a.m. He was taken to a hospital for evaluation and released, according to the Wediko School, where the boy is a student.

“On Sunday evening, while under supervision, a student exploring a rocky area on campus slipped between two boulders when sticks and debris gave way beneath them,” the school, a residential treatment center for boys, said in a statement Monday.

“Despite multiple staff members’ efforts to free the student, they were unsuccessful and promptly called local emergency rescue services,” the statement said. “Emergency responders worked tirelessly through the night, successfully rescuing the student in the early morning.”


Medical Director Jeremy Cushman encourages BLS providers to develop medical preplans for technical rescue scenarios they may encounter

Firefighters got a call to respond shortly before 6 p.m. Sunday, where they found the boy “lodged between the crevasse” in a large boulder, Hillsborough Fire Chief Kenny Stafford said. They used ropes and a lubricant to rescue the child, he said.

First responders from at least five other communities, as well as the state police and Fish and Game Department, assisted with the rescue in Windsor, in southern New Hampshire.

Manchester Fire Battalion Chief Jon Fosher said crews at the location reached out to the department in part because Manchester had a heavy rescue truck with a four-person crew.

He said trying to move the giant boulders to try to free the child wasn’t an option. Rescuers had initially attempted to break away some of the stone, but the child was still stuck, he said.


The F.A.I.L.U.R.E. acronym will help identify the area where problems occurred — and assist in reducing the possibility of problems in the future

“We basically had to tunnel underneath the boulder to get access to the child’s feet which allowed us something to push on from the bottom,” he said.

Rescuers also used dish soap and applied friction-reducing sheets to the boy’s knees and back to help them lift him up and out.

Fosher credited teamwork from all those working to free the boy for the success.

Trending
As shots rang out during the deadly Canfield Mountain ambush, a Northern Lakes battalion chief’s calm and decisive 911 calls helped guide a complex response
Dallas Assistant Fire Chief Lauren Johnson has been named the next chief of Portland Fire & Rescue, becoming only the third woman and third external hire to lead the department
All seven people missing after last week’s fireworks warehouse explosion in Yolo County, California, have been confirmed dead
At least 51 people, including 15 children, are dead and 27 girls remain missing after a flash flood devastated Camp Mystic and surrounding areas in Kerr County