Two men are safe after getting lost in the woods for several hours north of Fort McMurray.
Wood Buffalo RCMP and Fort McMurray Search and Rescue were reportedly contacted by the family of the individuals Wednesday morning after they didn’t return home.
Paul Spring, President of the Local HERO Foundation, tells Mix News they were asked to help as conditions were making it hard to travel through the woods, and contact they had with the individuals through their phones was getting worse as their batteries were dying.
He says the two were asked to start a fire and shortly after the helicopter was able to locate them using night vision goggles.
“We learned that the Fort McMurray Search and Rescue launched a boat from Fort McMurray which went up the river and met the individuals on the side of the Athabasca.”
Spring believes the two individuals would have been found without their help, however, it may have taken a lot longer.
Even though they weren’t in dire need of medical help at the time, their condition could’ve deteriorated rather quickly.
“The one gentleman, in his seventies, had already become exhausted and could not stand any longer and we had rain coming in, so there’s the possibility somebody could get into medical difficulty with hypothermia,” added Spring.
He notes the HERO Foundation doesn’t get many calls to help with search and rescues but are more than happy to assist in any way they can.