By Terry Karkos,Staff Writer
Firefighters go into Androscoggin River to save Bethel man’s family dogs

BETHEL – Frank Gibson got a Christmas miracle Friday when a crew of firefighters fetched his two family dogs out of the Androscoggin River.

“It wasn’t a Christmas present, them going through the ice,” Gibson said, “but it must be a Christmas present that they’re alive.”

The 60-minute drama ended when Bethel firefighters in cold water suits rescued the two large dogs that had fallen through ice.

Eleven-year-old Wolf, and Henry, 5, both German shepherd-mix dogs, were toweled off and immediately taken to a Bethel veterinarian to be warmed and checked, Clarice Gibson, who owns one of the dogs with her husband, Frank, said Friday morning.

“They were damn happy to be out of the water,” said one rescuer, Assistant Fire Chief Mike Jodrey, after the ordeal.

“They were both walking and wagging their tails when they came in,” Gibson said of the dogs she later learned were all right.

The dogs are pets of the Gibsons and their son, Frank Gibson III, 54. The family lives on Gibson Road, which is off North Road about four miles from Route 2.

Earlier that morning, Frank Gibson III, who has been wheelchair-bound with multiple sclerosis since he was 21, had let the dogs out for their morning romp.

But when he went out to call them back in, he heard Henry barking from the direction of the river, which is down over the bank beyond their apple orchard, store and home, Clarice Gibson said.

Neither dog came.

Alarmed, Frank Gibson III woke his parents, sending his dad out to find the dogs.

“I grabbed my pants and shoes, put them on and went out, and there they were, halfway across the river,” Frank Gibson said pointing to watery black holes in the slushy ice from where the dogs were pulled.

“The youngest dog was really barking, hollering for help,” he added. He ran back to the house and called 911.

He surmised that the dogs were tracking or chasing a fox along the river, or one that was on an island midstream.

“There have been foxes on the island out there, and whether they went out to see them or were just playing, we don’t know,” Clarice Gibson said.

Her husband thought Henry, who is heavier, fell through the ice first. Jodrey said the younger dog was 50 to 60 feet from shore. Wolf was 100 feet out.

Bethel Sgt. S. R. White said he got the call about 8:45 a.m. and was the first to arrive.

“They fell through up to their heads, and just had their front paws and heads out of the water,” White said.

The elder Gibson, who has raised Wolf from a pup, said he didn’t think his dog was going to make it.

“The old dog had just about had it, but the rescuers got here in less than a half hour. I couldn’t believe they were here that fast. There was eight or 10 guys,” Frank Gibson said.

White helped two firefighters suit up, then the rescuers headed down a slippery snow-covered bank with two others and Bethel’s aluminum rescue boat. Ropes were attached to the boat and an all-terrain vehicle on shore.

“The shore ice was thick enough to walk on, but the water was deep enough that we couldn’t touch bottom,” Jodrey said of the swim amidst icy chunks.

“They had a lot of trouble moving through the ice,” White said.

“It was quite a job, breaking the ice to get to the dogs,” Frank Gibson said.

Henry was the first to be rescued.

“When they rescued Henry and put him in the boat, I could almost see Wolf give up. There was just his head sticking out of the water. He’s got arthritis,” Frank Gibson said.

Rescuers then retrieved Wolf, and the ATV was used to pull the boat back to shore.

“All in all, it was a good save. It wasn’t textbook, but it worked,” Jodrey said.