MCCALL — When the call came in about an injured hunter in the backcountry, McCall Fire Department already was shorthanded. Not to mention, it was homecoming weekend, meaning the town was busier than usual, and a storm that dropped record snow in Montana was also making its way through the Idaho mountains.

“The winter storm had grounded helicopters everywhere from Boise to Kalispell (Montana),” said McCall Fire Capt. Freddie Van Middendorp, who was shift officer the evening of Saturday, Sept. 28, when the department first received word about the hunter.

“Riggins had no responders, and (the hunter) wasn’t sure he’d make it through the night,” Van Middendorp said in a phone interview. “As sickening as it was, we didn’t have the staffing to go, either.”

The firemen were told the hunter, Jeff Harrison, of Mount Pleasant, Michigan…