By Clynton Namuo
The Union Leader
DOVER, N.H. — An Alaskan man missing since officials lost contact with a helicopter he was riding in Monday worked for the Dover Fire Department for more than 10 years and was even named firefighter of the year in 1994.
John Stumpff, 47, a flight nurse in Alaska, was among four people in a chopper that was transporting a patient to an Anchorage hospital when it failed to report in to officials. The LifeGuard Alaska helicopter crew last contacted operators after 5 p.m. on Monday as they flew near Esther Island, about 75 southeast of Anchorage, the Air National Guard told the Associated Press.
All four people are missing, and officials continued to search for them yesterday in the mountainous coastal terrain. Others on board the Eurocopter BK 117 include patient Gaye McDowell, 60, of Cordova; pilot Lance Brabham, 42, of Soldotna; and paramedic Cameron Carter, 25, of Kenai.
Stumpff worked for the Dover Fire Department from 1984 to 1997 and was well liked during his time there, Assistant Fire Chief Richard Driscoll said in an interview yesterday.
“He is someone who everybody embraced, and we as a department are saddened by the news and we hope that it has a favorable outcome,” he said.
Driscoll has known Stumpff since he began working for the Dover department just after finishing up a stint in the U.S. Air Force at Pease, and described him as a pioneer who helped pave the way for a new breed of firefighter-paramedics that are today commonplace throughout the state.
Stumpff was among the first from Dover to become a paramedic, training more than 1,000 hours to gain the certification.
“He was one of the first guys to embrace that idea and went with it,” Driscoll said of Stumpff.
The work helped lead to Stumpff’s being named firefighter of the year in 1994.
While working together, Stumpff and Driscoll formed a close friendship that has lasted through the years even as Stumpff moved first to Florida in 1997 to attend nursing school and then about five years ago to Alaska. He said they enjoyed skiing together and they continue to talk on a regular basis, having last spoken about a month ago.
“His idea of a good time is to put a backpack on and take a walk in the woods for two weeks,” Driscoll said. “I think the frontier land gave him an opportunity to enjoy that aspect of his life also.”
Copyright 2007 Union Leader Corp.
All Rights Reserved