If Gilligan had
only had an app . . .
Staff writer
Two people stranded on a disabled boat were rescued Monday from the Marion Reservoir after emergency personnel told them how to download an app to find them.
The pair, identified as Victorinus Burgardt, 35, and Jennifer Burgardt, 66, both of Wichita, were on the north end of the reservoir in a small boat when the motor failed, according to Marion County Undersheriff Larry Starkey.
They called 911 on a cellphone, and members of the Hillsboro Fire Department arrived with their two inflatable boats, according to fire captain Matt Hein.
But to locate the stranded pair, Starkey said, rescuers had to talk the boaters through downloading an app called “what3words.”
The app is a global locator that divides geography into 10-foot squares, each assigned with three words. When the boaters identified their square, rescuers were able to bring them back to shore.
Starkey said neither person needed medical attention. The boat was towed into French Creek Cove, he said. Neither Burgardt returned calls from the Record.