Police in Milton have used an app that recently launched in Niagara to find two lost hikers.
Halton Regional Police Services used the What3Words app on July 3rd to successfully locate the pair in the Kelso Conservation Area and officers were able to quickly return them to safety.
On the same day, another group of hikers became lost in the Hilton Falls Conservation Area, but they were unable to download the app and the K9 Unit had to be called in to eventually find them.
The free program also recently launched in Niagara, allowing first responders to use a grid of 3 by 3 metre squares to help find missing people.
The squares are each given a unique combination of three words to give callers a simple way to describe precisely where they are so emergency services can quickly locate them.
Locally, the St. Catharines Fire Service dispatch is using the system, extending to the 11 other fire departments that use the St. Catharines emergency dispatch service.
Niagara Falls and Fort Erie do not use the St. Catharines dispatch.