Gilford firefighter honored for Mass. rescue that occurred during time-off

GILFORD — Firefighter Nick Proulx was awarded the 2015 Liberty Mutual Insurance Firemark Award Wednesday evening for rescuing a 20-year-old man on Easter Sunday after he fell through some thing ice while snowmobiling in Massachusetts.

According to Suzi Mard, who presented Proulx the award, Proulx was visiting his family in Methuen for the holiday when one of the other people at dinner witnessed the snowmobiler go through the ice.

She said Proulx's father called 911 while Proulx, who is an 8-year veteran of the Gilford Fire/Rescue Department and trains with his department regularly on ice rescues, ran to the water.

In an interview given by Proulx and his father to the Lawrence Eagle Tribune in early April, Proulx's father said his son knew where he kept his life preservers and his canoe.

Mard said Proulx used the canoe to get himself over the thin ice to reach the young man and pull him from the water. She said he waited while the Methuen Fire Department responded, as is protocol, and the Methuen team pulled the canoe with Proulx and the young man to safety.

In the Eagle Tribune article, both Proulx and his father, who is a fire instructor in Concord, N.H., complimented the Methuen Fire Department and Police Department for their quick response.

At Wednesday's presentation at Town Hall, Mard said no one in Methuen knew who Proulx was but reporter Peter Francis found him and wrote the story. She said the Liberty Mutual team learned of the rescue by reading it in the newspaper.

She said the Firemark Award goes annually to someone who best represents his or her community and who performs an act of heroism.

CUTLINE: Gilford Firefighter Nick Proulx (right) gets the Liberty Mutual Annual Firemark Award from Suzi Bard of Liberty Mutual Wednesday night at the Selectboard meeting. (Laconia Daily Sun photo/Gail Ober)