Winter - Water Rescue News

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Dec 9, 2002

Two Teens Die of Hypothermia when Jetski Fails
"Water Scooter Trip Deadly For 2 Teens"

By JULIA FERRANTE

HUDSON, FL - Chad Lewis began to worry when 5 p.m. came and went Saturday and his son Jason had not returned home. Jason Lewis and his friend Zachary Lukas had left Brooksville for a water scooter outing at 1 p.m. They were supposed to be back before dark. ``I was out there all last night hoping against hope that they would survive the cold,'' Chad Lewis said Sunday.
``It appears they didn't.'' At 9 a.m. Sunday, the Coast Guard, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, and Hernando County Sheriff's Office ended a 10-hour search that spanned 772 square miles of the Gulf.
A commercial fisherman on the vessel Crab Chaser found the teens and their disabled Polaris watercraft five to six miles northwest of Hudson, in the Sea Pines tripod area, Fish and Wildlife said.
``It's every parent's nightmare that they lose their child, and each of us lost a child today,'' Chad Lewis said. ``It's going to be hard to go on after this, even though I know that's what has to be done.'' Lewis and Lukas, both 16 and students at Hernando High School, launched Lukas' water scooter from a dock in Aripeka, in Pasco County near the Pasco-Hernando line, said Lt. Clyde Jordan, Fish and Wildlife watch commander.
Family members reported them missing to the Hernando sheriff's office at about 6 p.m., and Hernando notified the other agencies. The Pasco County Sheriff's Office was called to assist Sunday as the teens were transported to a county boat ramp in Hudson. Although the cause of the deaths had not been determined, investigators suspected that the teens succumbed to hypothermia after their watercraft engine failed and they drifted for hours in 60-degree waters, high winds and strong tides, Jordan said.
Sunday afternoon, the Coast Guard issued a warning to boaters about the dangers of hypothermia, which officials said can set in at any temperature over a period of time. Fish and Wildlife investigators extracted ropes and a crushed crab trap from the water intake mechanism of the swamped watercraft, agency Officer Jack Angelis said. ``That apparently stalled them out,'' he said.
But officials did not think the teens were boating in the 8- to 9-feet-deep water where they were found. More likely, Angelis said, they drifted with the northeast wind and a southwest tide. Lewis and Lukas were described by family and friends as strong swimmers, and there were no signs of injury or drowning, Fish and Wildlife spokesman Gary Morse said.
The youths were wearing bathing suits and life jackets. ``They were doing what they were supposed to do,'' Jordan said. ``But when the core body temperature drops below 72 degrees, hypothermia starts to set in.'' Jordan said personal watercraft accidents are common, but usually not fatal.
``We run into overturned Jet Skis all the time,'' he said. ``Jet Ski accidents are fairly routine. Death is not.'' Friend Chris Ramsey said the teens were ``really good kids'' who earned high marks in school. He said they were good swimmers, but neither had extensive water scooter experience.
This story can be found at: http://www.tampatrib.com/MGAWBGOXH9D.html

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http://www.kare11.com/news/news-article.asp?NEWS_ID=38915

Man Falls Through Ice, Rescued with New Tool

December 2, 2002
Minneapolis - St. Paul, MN

Police and firefighters rescued a Golden Valley man Sunday after he fell through ice on Sweeny Lake.
Authorities did not provide the man's name, or his condition. It is known that he is in his seventies and he had checked the ice depth in several spots before he began skating on it.
The Minnesota DNR issued an ice-safety warning for the Thanksgiving holiday after three boys fell through the ice on an Anoka County pond and died earlier in November. Rescue workers used a new tool to help save the man, a device called a Frisbuoy ResQdisc.
The ResQdisc is about the size of a Frisbee, but is thicker and is wound with 80 feet of rope. The rescuer attaches one end of the rope to their wrist and throws the disc to the person in the water. The technique allows rescuers to get a victim out of the water quickly. Hypothermia, the critical loss of body heat, is the biggest risk from a fall through the ice.
Many fire and rescue departments will not risk crewmember lives by sending them onto thin ice. Instead they wait until a rowboat, or other rescue device, is available.

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http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/local/article/0,1299,DRMN_15_1581933,00.html

Child drowns at city park
6-year-old girl was trying to get a shoe, but fell through ice

By Mike Patty, Rocky Mountain News
December 2, 2002

A 6-year-old girl who apparently tried to recover a shoe from an ice-covered Denver lake drowned Sunday, despite efforts of bystanders and emergency personnel to save her. The girl's identity was withheld by police until relatives could be notified. Denver Police Det. John White said the accident occurred about 12:45 p.m. when the girl and her cousin went out onto the ice at the south end of the lake at Garfield Lake Park, located at South Lowell Boulevard and West Mississippi Avenue. "It's our understanding the victim was here to visit her father and she and her cousin were playing near the lake when they saw a shoe on the ice," White said. "They went out onto the ice and the victim fell through."
The female cousin of the girl, also unidentified, made it safely back to shore. Jason Tolliver of Highlands Ranch was driving by the lake with his girlfriend when they saw the little girl go in. "I called 911 on my cell phone and turned the car around to see if we could help," Tolliver said. "When we got there, one guy was bobbing around in the water and another man, who I think was the girl's father, had gone in. We got a garden hose from a neighbor's house and were able to use it to pull them both out." The would-be rescuers both nearly became victims themselves and later had to be treated for hypothermia, White said. Sheila Jackson, a neighbor, said she saw the girls on the ice and the girl go through. "She fell on her butt and went right into the water," Jackson said. "I ran to get help." Jackson got her boyfriend, Mario Peña, who helped rescue the would-be rescuers. "I was fixing my car when my girlfriend came running up and said a little girl had fallen through the ice," Peña said. "There was an older man and her father in the water and we pulled them out. I started to go into the water, but it was too cold." Denver firefighters and paramedics quickly arrived on the scene and began searching for the girl. One diver went into the lake wearing a wet suit, while three firemen in a raft began probing the area with long poles. A fire engine ladder was extended over the lake and a firefighter climbed up to get a better view. The Denver Police helicopter also was brought in to try to spot the girl's body. The girl was located and pulled out of the lake about 46 minutes after going through the ice. At first, rescuers hoped she could be resuscitated because she was so young and the water was so cold. "There have been cases of victims surviving up to 48 minutes under water in similar conditions," White said. But Dr. Steve Cantrill of Denver Health Medical Center said the resuscitation efforts were unsuccessful. Tolliver said the ice was about three inches thick near the shore and about an inch thick where the girl fell through, about 25 feet from shore. "Everybody did everything they could," said Tolliver, who ironically was on his way to buy scuba gear when he drove past the lake. "I wish we could have done more. But if we had jumped in, they would be pulling more bodies out of the water." In another touch of irony, Tolliver said his 6-year-old brother drowned when he was 14. "This just brings back all those bad memories," he said.

pattym@RockyMountainNews.com

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Batavia man dies of hypothermia on fishing trip

By Veronica Gonzalez
Daily Herald Staff Writer

December 04, 2002
Lake Michigan- Steve Hudgens was so excited about his annual post-Thanksgiving fishing trip that he cajoled his family into letting him leave a couple days early.Only this time, the 49-year-old husband and father of two would not make it home.Hudgens and a friend died of hypothermia Saturday as they and a third friend fished in Little Bay de Noc, a popular spot for walleye in Michigan's Upper Peninsula.In addition to Hudgens, Joseph Zahn, 50, of Sheboygan Falls, Wis., died. Stephen Smithberger, 43, of Union, Ill., survived.At 11 a.m. Saturday, the three men pushed off from shore near the town of Escanaba, Mich., in Smithberger's 181/2-foot boat, said Delta County Sheriff Lt. Gary Ballweg.The temperature was 15 degrees, Ballweg said. With 30 mph winds, the wind chill plunged below zero, he said. Waves up to six feet high pummeled at the boat. The motor died about 1:30 p.m., and a smaller trolling motor used for fishing gave out, too. The boat was taking on water.And then the bilge pump froze.Strong wind and waves pushed them away from the harbor from where they'd started.Using a cell phone, they tried to call friends staying in a motel, Ballweg said. The line was busy. They tried to call 911, but before the last number was dialed, a wave swallowed the phone, Ballweg said.Waves eventually capsized the boat, then righted it again, he said. It was at the water's mercy. The men were soaked. They clung on wearing life jackets and layers of clothing.The water temperature was 38 degrees."There was nobody else out there," Ballweg said.Finally, a woman who lived across the bay spotted the boat around dusk and contacted police.Police fought through a layer of ice and rescued Smithberger.A U.S. Coast Guard helicopter recovered Hudgens' body about 7:30 p.m., and Zahn's body was recovered about 10:30 p.m., Ballweg said.Hudgens had been fishing for 23 years, and he used to go ice fishing in Escanaba."They're used to the waters," said his wife, Bonnie."They're used to the cold. They had sub-zero gear for this," she said. "They would have never gone out if they felt it was treacherous. They went out and the conditions changed, and it was just one of those freak things."

http://www.dailyherald.com/search/main_story.asp?intID=3759499

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Flagstaff firefighters prepare for ice rescues

By LARRY HENDRICKS
Sun Staff Reporter
11/16/2002

It's winter. A young boy is on the bank of a pond in Flagstaff. The surface of the pond is iced over. The ice looks sturdy to the boy. He walks onto the ice, wandering farther from shore. The ice starts to crack from the boy's weight. Then, the ice breaks, and the boy plunges into the freezing water.
Firefighters with the Flagstaff Fire Department are prepared and equipped to respond to this type of tragedy this winter when the local bodies of water start to freeze over. They recently reviewed their training in cold water rescues, and have three cold-water rescue suits strategically placed on fire engines throughout the city.
On Tuesday, Cpt. Tim White of the fire department headed up a demonstration of a cold-water rescue at the Duck Pond behind Flagstaff High School. "We recognize cold water season from the 1st of October to the 1st of May," White said, as firefighters from Station 5 and Station 1 prepared the demonstration.
The ice/cold-water rescue suits are kept on engines whose stations are near bodies of water -- Cheshire, Continental and further east at Station 3 off Railhead Avenue. The suits cost $500. With accessories -- helmet, personal flotation device, harness -- they cost approximately $1,100.
All of the 70-plus firefighters in Flagstaff go through training every year, donning the suits in cold-water rescue. The suits were bought in 1988 after a 1987 incident at the Duck Pond, said Cpt. Clayton Dillahunty.
A young man under the influence of drugs walked across the ice to the island in the middle of the pond. At the time, the fire department didn't have the suits and had to use ladders to keep from falling through the ice to get to the young man.
The chief at the time saw a need and Dillahunty looked into costs and was allocated the funds to buy two suits. "It's worked out pretty good for us," Dillahunty said, adding that the suits, on average, are used approximately once a year -- not always for rescues.
During the flood of 1992 in Continental, Dillahunty said the suits were used extensively by firefighters working in the area. There have been no cold-water drownings in Flagstaff in recent history that Dillahunty and White can remember. But the potential is there, White said.
Every winter, he sees kids on the ice in Continental playing. "It only takes one fatality to justify the expense of this equipment," Dillahunty said. White said nobody should ever walk on ice in Flagstaff. "We don't have good ice in Arizona," he said. The temperatures vary too much during the winter and the ice "rots" easily.
White explained how a ice/cold-water rescue would happen. An engine with a suit closest to the incident would be sent, and a second closest would follow as backup. All rescue situations have one rescuer in the water or on the ice, while the other is on shore to rescue the rescuer if need be. Up to 50 percent of cold-water deaths are rescuers, Dillahunty said.
Cold water presents its own set of problems. Hypothermia can set in as quickly as five minutes for an average size person, Dillahunty estimated. Hence, the suits. "Unless properly equipped, don't go into the water," White said of people who see a victim who has fallen through the ice. Call for help, White said. Try to get a line or a branch or something to victim without getting into water or out onto ice, and try to keep victim calm.
When firefighters arrive, they determine the type of rescue needed based on "reach, throw, go" Dillahunty said. If the victim can be reached with pole, ladder or rope and the victim is conscious, that type is used. "Go," which requires a rescuer to go out on ice or into water, is the most dangerous.
Aaron Wells of Station 1 was the rescuer for the demonstration. Fred Sonive of Station 5, 32 year veteran with the fire department, was the victim. Both took about 3 minutes to suit up. Sonive swam to the center of the pond. Wells then went out to rescue.
If the pond had been iced over, Wells would have crawled up to place where the victim fell through using a ladder as support to disperse his weight on the ice. Wells had a rope attached to him so the crew on shore could bring in rescuer and victim. Wells reached Sonive and talked to him. He then put a harness on Sonive. "OK," Wells told the crew on shore. "Haul away," Dillahunty said. "Slow and easy." The two were brought to shore.
Had Sonive been a real victim, he would have been taken to an awaiting ambulance for evaluation and transportation to the hospital. After the demonstration, Wells said while he was swimming out to Sonive he was focusing on what he was to do when he reached Sonive. Wells would assess if the victim was awake or not. If awake, Wells would immediately begin talking to the victim to keep the victim calm and from struggling against rescue. He would sling the harness and position himself behind the victim. "That way we have easier control of that person," Wells said, adding that while they were being pulled to shore, he would continue to talk and reassure the victim. Ice/cold-water rescue is one of several special operations firefighters with the fire department are trained for, White said.
Other special operations include rope rescue, trench rescue, structural collapse rescue, confined space rescue, and hazardous material clean up.
Reporter Larry Hendricks can be reached at 913-8607 or lhendricks@azdailysun.com.

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Ice fisherman drowns

December 2, 2002

By RALPH ANSAMI
Globe News Editor

SPRINGSTEAD, Wis. -- The body of a 48-year-old ice fishermen who ventured out too early on the Turtle-Flambeau Flowage was recovered Sunday morning by an airboat rescue team.
Mark E. Fort, 48, of Eau Claire, Wis., apparently drowned, according to Iron County Sheriff Robert Bruneau. His body was found in the flowage next to his three-wheeler machine. Fort had been missing since Friday evening.
A friend told deputies Fort had gone ice fishing with the three-wheeler, pulling a sled, and was due back in Springstead around dark. When he didn't show up around 7 p.m. Friday, the sheriff's department was notified.
The sheriff's department later received a report a man had spotted a three-wheeler and light head into the distance on the 14,321-acre impoundment, which is the fourth largest inland body of water in the state.
"Recovery efforts were hampered by the poor weather," Bruneau noted. Thin ice prevented deputies and volunteers from venturing out immediately.
An initial effort to get a rescue boat to the scene resulted in the boat being stuck in slush at the Springstead boat landing.
On Saturday, deputies, Department of Natural Resources personnel and the Sawyer County rescue team used an airboat, but could not locate the missing man.
The search resumed Sunday morning and Fort's body was recovered around 10:46 a.m. by the airboat rescue team.
Iron County deputy coroner Jodie Bednar-Clemens said an autopsy will be performed.
Bruneau thanked the DNR, Sawyer rescue team, Park Falls ambulance, Town of Sherman volunteer fire department, Iron County Forestry Department and many who volunteered for their assistance

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Coatesville man’s body found in river

Coatesville Fire Co. workers honor fellow member Mario Scamuffa by carrying his body, draped with a flag, to a waiting vehicle as members of the Mont Clare and Phoenixville rescue units salute.

Dennis J. Wright
Special to The Mercury
December 04, 2002

MONT CLARE, WI -- After six grueling days of recovery efforts, search teams and divers retrieved the body of 36-year-old Mario Scamuffa from the Schuylkill River Tuesday afternoon.

According to Chester County Dive Teams coordinator Bob Motzer, Scamuffa’s body was retrieved from the water around 1:30 p.m.

"This recovery is an accumulation of efforts made by every unit that has worked this incident," he said. "A lot of brave men and women combined their skills and training into making this recovery a possibility."

A 1984 graduate of Coatesville Area Senior High School, Scamuffa was fishing with three friends Thanksgiving morning, when he slipped on ice on a concrete retainer wall and plunged into the frigid waters below.

Motzer said before beginning the day’s search that discussions were held regarding the offered use of specialized equipment.

"After further consultation, we realized that the available resources that were offered to us mirrored our existing resources," he said. "Those resources that were offered were brought in to spell relief to the efforts already made during this search. Fortunately, we were able to make the recovery with the talents and equipment we had available."

Overcome with emotion, Mont Clare Deputy Fire Chief Charles Palmer said crews began operations just before 8 a.m.

"The first crew came out around 8 a.m. and we kept them going for a while," he said. "We had a fresh crew come out in the afternoon. We have been rotating the crews due to the inclement temperatures in the air and in the water. The water temperature was 35 degrees while the temperature on shore was in the mid-20s."

The key to the recovery, Motzer said, was that the water flow dropped significantly overnight.

"Around 5:30 a.m., the water flow dropped to a point to where I wanted to get a dive crew ready," he said. "As the flow kept dropping, we eventually planned to have a dive in the afternoon.I kept watching and watching to see how low it would drop."

The afternoon boat crew called Palmer and Motzer just before 1:30 p.m. to notify them of the recovery.

"Two divers jumped in and were able to pull him from the water," Motzer said. "He had been pinned against the face of the dam ever since he fell in. The pressure that was keeping us from getting to him eventually subsided when the water flow dropped.

"Mr. Scamuffa was away from the dam approximately 45 minutes when he was spotted moving along the bottom of the river. We had good water visibility which was essential in recovering him."

Approximately 25 to 30 family members, friends and co-workers gathered at the top of the hill upon hearing news of the recovery.

"We would speak with everyone first thing in the morning," said Motzer. "They were very strong during this whole ordeal. They were a great group of people."

Representatives of several Coatesville fire companies appeared on the scene before the body was brought to shore.

"The City of Coatesville was notified and they wanted to carry him from the water to the coroner’s vehicle," said Motzer. "Being he was a volunteer firefighter, it was in the back of all of our minds as we were looking for him. He is one of our own in there. He still had his fire pager on his person."

During a highly emotional ceremony, Coatesville firefighters draped the body with an American flag and carried him from the river while rescue personnel lined up in an honor formation.

Family, friends and co-workers of Scamuffa looked on and wept openly as the body was placed in the coroner’s vehicle.

Shortly after, Scamuffa’s sister, Frances, led everyone in the Lord’s Prayer, and then thanked everyone involved in the recovery of her brother.

Motzer said the recovery was a tremendous effort by everyone involved.

"We had approximately 125 to 150 people constantly rotating in and out over the past six days, working hard and doing what they can," he said. "It is a true testament to the talents and determination of the personnel in bringing closure to the loved ones of the victim."

©The Mercury*2002

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Kiantone fatal car accident
December 6, 2002

Kiantone, NY - Divers and rescue crews spent hours on the ice trying to rescue a woman trapped in a car beneath the ice covered creekwater. Chautauqua County Sheriff's Deputies' efforts proved futile despite their efforts to save the victim late yesterday in the Town of Kiantone.

It happened Thursday when a car driven by 33-year-old Cynthia Brunacini of Mayville veered off route 62 near Frewsburg.

The car went about 300 feet before it crashed into the icy waters of Conewango Creek. Fire departments from Kiantone, Frewsberg, Falconer, Busti, Fluvanna and WCA and Allstar services responded. The Chautauqua County Water Emergency Team also responded and was able to recover Brunacini's body.

Brunacini was taken to WCA Hospital in Jamestown where she later died.

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Water rescue quacks up officials

BY LAURI HARVEY
Times Staff Writer

LYNWOOD, IN -- Clad in a wetsuit, firefighter/engineer Art Schweitzer slowly slid from thicker ice to thin Wednesday moving toward a female victim stuck in the middle of the pond.
"Don't let her go, Art, just take it slow," called Lt. Jeff Hinkens -- who heads Lynwood's Dive Team -- from the shore where firefighters and police officers secured Schweitzer and his rescue sled via ropes.
"Watch her neck," Fire Chief Rich Eriks said.
As Schweitzer neared the victim, she flapped her wings and quacked loudly, until he had her secured in a net.
"Believe it or not, we received several calls about this duck from concerned residents," Eriks said.
The female mallard duck somehow made it to the center of the pond at Orchard Court just north of 198th Street late Wednesday morning and could not fly away or walk on the ice to the shoreline. When firefighters took the duck from the net and held her, they discovered some blood on one of her wings, which they believe she may have injured while flapping her wings on the ice in an attempt to free herself.
The eight police and firefighters at the scene -- complete with the Dive Team truck, two volunteer firefighter vehicles and a squad car -- had a good laugh over the attention received at the rescue, joking that it was a slow day.
When asked what they planned to do with their rescued victim, some of the firefighters and police officers joked that they would have a nice meal. In reality, police officers placed the bird in a cage and transported her in the open trunk of a squad car to determine the best place for her to receive treatment and care.
"Well, another rescue under our belts," Eriks joked as the crew left the scene. "Nice job, guys."

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Rocky Mountain News
URL: http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/local/article/0,1299,DRMN_15_1584099,00.html

'I had maybe a minute or two'
Firefighter who tried to rescue drowning girl had little time

By Jeff Kass, Rocky Mountain News
December 3, 2002

Minutes save lives. So Denver Fire Department Lt. Butch Hess, broke through ice, and waded into Garfield Lake Park Sunday afternoon. He put the life vest and tether over his standard-issue pants, button shirt and T-shirt. He figures the water was about 35 degrees. He waded in up to his neck, moving his arms and legs in circles. He hoped to touch a 5-year-old drowning girl.
"I just had maybe a minute or two; to get to the area and feel the body," Hess said. "If I could just find her real fast." Denver firefighters did find Selena Oliver, who fell through a thin layer of ice. She was floating in the middle of 6 feet of water, Hess said. But despite the efforts of bystanders and the firefighters, Oliver was pronounced dead. As one of the first firefighters on scene, Hess was able to provide a detailed narrative of the rescue effort. He had also spent eight years on the dive team. He knew he was headed into icy muck. "You're in about 6 inches of duck poop; you're sinking into it," Hess said. "The filthiest, dirtiest job you can imagine." It's part of the extremes of firefighting. "The water's cold," he said. "The fire's hot." Hess said he searched for two to three minutes, trying to move as much water as possible. "It probably looks real spastic," he said, referring to his effort. When the fire department dive team arrived, Hess said he exited the water, and found his old wet suit in the dive truck. He slipped into it and flopped on a boogie board to shadow two different divers searching underwater for Oliver.
Hess credits the divers with the hard work. But he too continued to search, methodically kicking the water; hoping to tap a body. Frantic eyewitness accounts said the girl fell in about 50 feet from the shore, according to Hess. The aquatic firefighters started the search at 40 feet. They found nothing but dense water. Another firefighter reinterviewed the witnesses. They revised the spot where the girl fell in. Hess and a second diver started in about 35 feet from the shore. Two, three, maybe four minutes passed. The diver's hand burst through the ice. Hess paddled over. The girl's dark-skinned face did not appear blue, Hess said. He placed her limp body, bundled in a dark, heavy coat, on the board. "She just looked like she was sleeping," he said. Hess said the whole search lasted about 30 minutes. They might have found Oliver sooner if they started out at a different location. But bodies move underwater. People thrash; currents swirl. Hess isn't sure they found Oliver near where she actually fell in. "Who really knows" where she dropped down, Hess said. "God knows."

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http://www.ecm-inc.com/news/princeton/2002/December/12ice.html

Two men who fell through ice were safe as rescuers searched

Princeton Union-Eagle

Princeton, MN -Two men are safe after falling through the ice on Little Elk Lake near Zimmerman last week.
The Sherburne County Sheriff’s Department responded to a call about 7 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 4. It was reported that two people had fallen through the ice on the lake. When emergency personnel arrived on the scene, they found a hole in the ice and miscellaneous ice fishing gear on the ice and floating in the water.
Sheriff Bruce Anderson said no individuals were on the ice or near the scene so cold-water rescue personnel were activated, including: Princeton and Zimmerman fire departments, hovercrafts from Sherburne and Mille Lacs counties, two ambulances (Zimmerman and Princeton) and Sherburne County Sheriff’s Department Reserves.
“While the search and rescue operation was being coordinated, two individuals approached us and said two had fallen through but both made it safely out of the water,” Anderson said.
Matthew Carlson, 18, Zimmerman, and Eric Mettling, 19, Zimmerman, told authorities they were walking out on Elk Lake with two friends where they had fished the day before when Carlson and Mettling fell through the ice. They were able to pull themselves up on to the ice, at which time they went back to Mettling’s nearby home to change clothes. They were returning to retrieve things from the water when they discovered there was a search effort underway.
“Those are definitely two very lucky individuals,” Anderson said. “They’re lucky to be alive.”

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Thin ice, freezing water kill Angel Fire doe

Ellen Miller-Goins
Staff writer

ANGEL FIRE — On a frosty morning Thursday, Dec. 5, we stood at the shoreline of Monte Verde Lake and watched helplessly as a deer struggled to free herself from a cold watery hole in the ice, succumbed to its freezing temperature … and died.
At about 8 a.m., residents began calling the Angel Fire Police Department to report a deer was floundering on the ice.
“It was lying out on the ice and every time it’d try to stand up, it’d slide,” said lakeside resident Mark Stewart. By about 8:40, the doe had fallen through.
A little after 9:15 a.m. I arrived from The Chronicle to find Stewart standing alone at the lake’s western shore. Stewart told me he had asked Angel Fire Resort security if he could use his canoe to try to break a path through the ice so the doe could swim out, but he was told “no.”
“The resort just didn’t want to risk a person’s life and I understand that. They are responsible. If they said ‘yes’ then something happened to me, they’d have been responsible. It was just an idea. I just thought it might work. It might not have.”
Kevin Ward, resort membership director, said Monday, “We did call Game and Fish and we did call the village as well. We certainly don’t want to put any human life at risk.
“We’ll leave rescues to the professionals though we’ll do everything we can to assist.”
While we waited for Game and Fish officials to arrive, Mark and I watched as the deer, which was at least 150 feet from the shore, kicked and struggled to keep her head above the ice. Stewart said he could hear her bleating just before I arrived. “She’d been in the water awhile before she started that. When she fell in the water she just kind of rested. Then she started swimming continuously and she bleated as she tried to push up against the ice.”
‘No safe way’
A few minutes later, Angel Fire Fire Chief Ellison Hensley and paramedic Robyn Vallier arrived.
Pointing to the unstable ice which was thick in spots, dangerously thin in others — and nonexistent in places — Hensley said he couldn’t see any safe way for his department to attempt a rescue. “I just don’t see any safe way to do it, even on a skid.”
Hensley said his department had successfully rescued a dog that fell through closer to shore a few years ago. In this case, though, the deer was too far away to rescue safely. “I don’t want to sound cruel but I can see where I’d be losing a fireman easily. There is a cycle to nature and such things happen. It is sad to sit here and watch.”
Sad for more than the four of us, as Chronicle staffers fielded calls from upset residents including one from Vince Eppler of Angel Fire. “I’m a hunter but I don’t like to see an animal suffer.
“Things happen out there in nature but nature didn’t put the aerator out there,” Eppler said, adding a bear had also drowned a few years ago. “If man’s causing an illusion for the animal, we need to do something.”
Ward said the resort uses aerators to “protect the resort’s stocking investment. The fish would die.”
Danger! Thin ice
He added he hoped people would heed signs by the shore which warn, “Danger! Thin ice. No trespassing.”
Thursday as the deer butted feebly against the ice we could see how the water had frozen unevenly all over the lake leaving some spots thin, others thick enough to walk on — as the deer had — though not close enough to rescue the deer.
In the end, Stewart, Hensley, Vallier and I could do nothing but watch, and wait.… We speculated on the difference between hypothermia for a human — who likely would have succumbed in minutes — and a deer.
Eventually her head slipped from the ice and we knew she was dead.
Pat Snider, district wildlife supervisor for the state Game and Fish office in Raton, said Friday, “By the time we got there the animal had gone under. We try to respond to these situations. Sometimes we’re successful, sometimes we’re not.”
Snider added while this is not a regular occurrence, in some cases his department might “get out there where the ice is fairly stable and rope it and pull it back out on top.”
Snider said it can be dangerous to attempt such a rescue because the deer might fight her rescuers out of fear. “Deer hooves are pretty sharp.”
Given the length of time the deer was in the water, Snider said she might have succumbed to hypothermia even if they did have a way to pull her out. “When you’re dealing with hypothermia their systems are shutting down. There’s probably not a whole lot of pain.”
Snider said more deer die from getting struck by vehicles and expressed the belief people could do more to save lives if they slowed down on the highway.
What if it were a child?
As the deer ceased her struggle, Hensley wondered, “What are we going to do when it’s a kid? We’re going to have to be ready to deploy fast.”
He said he had looked at “immediately deployable devices that enable you to scoot or float directly to the victim. You’re probably looking at about $6,000 of expense. There’s added training that goes with this device and the person you put on it has to have a dry suit so if something goes wrong their risk is decreased. Nobody’s ever 100 percent safe.”
Hensley said Monday he had not budgeted for ice rescue equipment nor had it ever been brought before the Angel Fire Village Council. “Everything we buy is governed by available funds. I have to look at what we need most. Purchasing a new ambulance is a higher priority.”
Hensley repeated the danger involved in rescuing a deer— with the added uncertainty of how the animal might behave towards its rescuers. “This is a wild animal.
“The question we have to ask is what would we do if it were a child, which will happen someday.
“Of course I would risk human life for a child. I wouldn’t stand on the bank.”

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http://www.pioneerlocal.com/house/nssubscribe/ns-subscribe-pop.html

Pet rescue from pond can be costly lesson

Pioneer Press
BY LYNNE STIEFEL
STAFF WRITER
Glenview, IL - When she spotted the family’s golden retriever thrashing about in the half-frozen pond behind her Indian Ridge home, Rhonda Konarski went into full rescue mode. “I'm an emergency room physician. I think fast,” she said a day after the Dec. 3 incident.
She grabbed the 25-foot extension cord used for the home’s Christmas lights, tied it around her waist and gave the other end to her housekeeper, Maria Kurnyta. “The dog was holding on with two paws trying to get out. By the time I came with the extension cord, she was going down,” Konarski said.
She walked carefully on the ice to cross the pond, but went crashing into the water when she reached Sunny, who was about 25 feet out. “I pushed the dog out and then my housekeeper pulled me out,” she said. “I knew with that thing, the housekeeper would be able to get me out.” Konarski told her tale as a precaution to those whose homes are near detention ponds or lakes. “It happened to me and the dog. It could happen to anybody,” she said. “If that had happened and my kids were home, they would have gone out after the dog.”
While he understands Konarski’s zeal to rescue her dog, Glenview Deputy Fire Chief Mike Sawicki would discourage anyone from risking his or her life to save a pet.
Instead, he suggested a telephone call to the fire department. “If the animal is panicked, it can do a lot of damage” not only to the animal itself but also the person trying to save its life, he warned. Sawicki said firefighters have special tools that can be used in cold water rescues, including insulated wet suits and an aerial ladder truck that can extend 105 feet.
As well, firefighters have the experience to determine whether attempting to save an animal would pose too great a risk to the rescuer. “The responding engine company could come up with a creative way to rescue the animal balancing the risks against the ultimate benefit,” he said. As for those who would skate or play on ponds that appear to be frozen, Sawicki also has advice: don’t. “Only go on ice that has been posted by a reputable authority as being safe to be on,” he said.
“Unless they have an expert come out to determine whether it is safe to be on, you have to assume that it’s unsafe. Depending on how the body of water is fed, one area might be more significantly frozen over than another.” That’s advice the Konarskis understand. They've watched neighbors’ children play hockey on the three ponds in Indian Ridge for the 15 years they've lived there. “My husband refuses to let the kids on the lake,” Rhonda Konarski said.

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http://www.southbendtribune.com/stories/2002/12/13/local.20021213-sbt-MICH-A1-Roar__caught.sto

December 13, 2002

Roar 'caught my attention'
Union man rescues ice skaters from Indiana Lake

By JIM MEENAN
Tribune Staff Writer

UNION, IN ---- James Gillespie heard what seemed like a roar when three ice skaters skated by his home on Indiana Lake on Wednesday afternoon
"It caught my attention," he said of what he described as a strange noise made by the lake. "So I kept an eye on things."
Gillespie, of Union, was out in his front yard that faces the lake, washing his car near his boat landing, enjoying the sun and the lake's beauty on a day when the temperatures hit the 40s.
It was because of that sun and temperature that he had decided to put off for one day a visit to his mother in Niles, after getting off work from Modineer at 2 p.m.
It's a good thing for Glenda Bonta, a grandmother, of Union, her granddaughter Bethany Bonta, 14, and her friend, Rachel Makielski, 12, that he did. Both Bethany and Rachel are from Bristol. Indiana Lake sits on the Michigan-Indiana border.
Because Gillespie was there, he was on hand when the trio fell through the ice at Indiana Lake around 4:30 p.m.
Because he was there, all three are alive today, along with Glenda's son Joey, 45, who fell in, along with his two dogs, while trying to save the trio.
Gillespie was just about done washing the car on Wednesday afternoon. In fact, he was disconnecting the hose and just about ready to go inside when he heard a cry for help.
"I heard someone say, 'I fell in the water. I am in the water,' " he recalled.
"I came around the corner and could see one of the young ladies in one of the holes in the ice. The other two were in another hole."
Gillespie went to the water's edge and could tell the ice was pretty thin. He then pounded on his front door to get his wife, Kaylynn's attention, and told her to call 911, while pointing to the lake so she would know what happened.
He then went to work.
He grabbed a long extension cord from his nearby shed and headed towards the water.
Out about 30 to 40 feet from shore ---- in the water ---- were the two girls and the grandmother.
"One was yelling 'I am going to die, I am going to die,' " Gillespie recalled. "I said, 'Honey, not today. You are not dying today.' "
Coming into the picture was Bonta's son, Joey Bonta, of Bristol, the father of Bethany, who was skating to their rescue, his two dogs behind him.
Gillespie threw Joey the cord.
"I got out on the ice, and Joey grabbed the other end," Gillespie, who was more or less crawling on the ice himself at this point to disperse his weight, said. But Joey Bonta suddenly crashed through.
Gillespie could see that Bethany had gone under next to Joey. "I am yelling to grab her," Gillespie said. "I could see her behind him and her face finally came up. He put her towards me and put the cord in her hands."
The rescue was far from over, though. As the girl pulled on the cord, she pulled Gillespie along the ice.
"I am sliding and thinking maybe if I can get in the water where I was at, maybe I would be in better shape" for traction, he said.
"I had a feeling I could touch bottom."
Though the lake had a big drop-off just a few feet away from where the four went in, Gillespie, who is 6-foot-1-inch tall, was able to touch the bottom, the water going up to the lower part of his chest.
He then got to Bethany and flipped her out of the lake. By then, others had thrown a rope and life preservers out on the lake.
Gillespie was able to get the rope to Rachel, and then flipped her out of the water.
By then, just Glenda was standing next to him. Gillespie grabbed her and set her up on the ice.
"I got her up flat with her stomach on the ice," he said. "I grabbed her ankles and pushed her forward a couple times. By then the neighbors got a rope to her and pulled her ashore."
The two girls made it to shore in a similar fashion.
Gillespie and Joey made it also, but they did so by cracking ice with their wrists and gradually pushing their way to shore.
As they got out of the water, Gillespie could hear the ambulance coming. Other neighbors and Porter Township fire and ambulance personnel had arrived to assist in the rescue.
After he had gone inside his home to get warm, paramedics checked him out.
Like everyone, give or take a few slight cuts from the ice, he was OK.
Gillespie credits his father, Louis, the former safety director for the American Red Cross in St. Joseph County and Elkhart County, and his constant reminders about safety with helping him keep his poise during the rescue.
He said the whole ordeal made him feel good about a lot of things when it was over.
"I felt good about being alive," he said. "And the other people being alive. I felt good about the human race. It's a good feeling to be able to help people."
Glenda Bonta called Gillespie on Wednesday night to thank him.
She and the girls had been out on the ice for about a half hour when they fell through.
"It was just an unfortunate accident," she said Thursday. "The ice was not strong enough like we thought it was."
She also was thankful for the efforts of her son, Joey.
Gillespie, meanwhile, remembered the lessons of his father, whom he spoke with after the accident.
"The water can be very dangerous anytime of year," he said.
"If you live around it, you have to watch out for your neighbors and other people on the water."
Staff writer Jim Meenan

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http://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/local/scn-sa-ice6dec13,0,2972024.story


Stamford firefighters brush up on ice rescue training

By J. Clyde Wills
Special Correspondent

December 13, 2002

STAMFORD, CT -- Ice rescue in Stamford is rare, often reserved for pets and stranded geese. Still, fire Capt. Bill Avalos said ice rescue training is necessary for the few times it may save lives.

Donning red cold-water exposure suits, commonly known as Gumby suits, a group of firefighters from the Stamford Fire & Rescue Department spent yesterday afternoon practicing ice-water rescues at Sterling Farm Golf Course in Stamford.

Made of a neoprene material, the suits are designed to retain body heat and maintain buoyancy in cold water. They have been used by fire departments since 1980.

"The suits were originally made for fisherman in Alaska so if you fell overboard you'd stay alive -- at least for a little while," said fireman Kurt Semmel, an instructor of yesterday's ice-rescue training.

"Even if you get a rip in them and they fill up with water you can't sink them," added fire Lt. Bill Wood.

The first step in an ice rescue is to throw the victim a line. Most of the time victims have been in the water for more than 10 minutes and have lost most of their dexterity from the cold, Semmel said.

That's when a firefighter has to go in and get them.

To conduct the rescue, the firefighter crawls flat on her belly in order to distribute her weight across thin ice, propelling herself with spikes so she can move quickly.

The rescuer then tries to get alongside the victim in order to pull them to safety. If the rescuer approaches from the front, it is possible for him to be pulled in with the victim as well, Semmel said.

It is essential that the victim remain calm, he said. In an ice rescue situation rescuers must be wary for their own safety as well.

"If he is going berserk on you, back off," he said.

Once the victim is secured with a tether, both he and the rescuer are pulled from the ice by firefighters standing on shore. If there are multiple victims, a sled is used to pull them to shore.

During the cold months a rescue victim has a decreased chance of drowning, Wood said. A reaction called mammallian dive reflex closes the throat automatically when a person is drowning in cold water, and victims are more likely to survive because no water gets in the lungs.

All of the Stamford fire engines carry Gumby suits year-round. However, firefighters have to be prepared to conduct an ice rescue without them. Even their turnout gear can provide buoyancy, Wood said.

During ice rescues, a dive team also is prepared to enter the water in wetsuits. Due to their buoyancy, Wood said, Gumby suits are of no use if the victim is submerged.

Because it takes longer to put on scuba gear, Avalos said, the rescuer in the Gumby suit is used to mark the spot where the victim went under.

It isn't often that Stamford Fire and Rescue needs to break out the suits, Wood said. In most cases rescue calls involve dive rescues in much warmer weather.

"People know to stay off the ice," he said.

Avalos said parents should concentrate on prevention and warn their children about the dangers of falling into a frozen pond.

"We've had an early winter this year so kids should be careful," he said.

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http://www.abc22.com/news/index.php?story=2123

Three Burlington Girls Rescued From Winooski River

By Eszter Vajda

December 13, 2002 -- Terry Goodrich says it started out as just another Friday at the Waste Water Plant in Burlington, when he looked across the Winooski River and saw two girls floating on ice.
" Panic, I was afraid."
He was afraid that the girls would fall through the thin ice.
Across the river rescue officials arrived at about 9:20AM and found two girls wearing back packs.
They told officials a third girl was also missing.
As rescue efforts for the two girls were under way, the third girl was found down the river also on a piece of ice.
The Coast Guard pulled the girls back to shore, and to safety.
The three girls were treated and released at Fletcher Allen.
They were not injured.
The Burlington girls range in age between nine and eleven.
Many say they were skipping school.
Winooski Fire Chief David Bergron says, "the ice is thin and is very dangerous."
"Folks at home.. tell your children stay off the ice."
Terry Goodrich is being hailed a hero. But he is just glad the girls are safe.

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Ice Rescue on Lake Washington

December 13, 2002
Associated Press

Lake Washington, MN --It may be a few days before two Lake Crystal fishermen venture back out on the ice. Eighty-year-old Robert Bresser and 76-year-old Joe Schmidt were returning to shore after ice-fishing on Lake Washington late yesterday afternoon when they apparently walked into open water. Other anglers came to their rescue, pulling them out and helping them back to shore. The LeSueur County sheriff's dive team and Kasota rescue squad responded, but found the two warming themselves on shore. Sheriff David Glissinksi says the recent warm weather has created treacherous conditions on ice on area lakes.

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http://www.wishtv.com/global/story.asp?s=1050439&ClientType

December 16, 2002 - 7:26 am

Teen Rescued From Icy Pond

Marion Co., IN
A 13-year old Indianapolis teen is recovering Monday morning after falling through the ice in an area pond on the city's west side.Firefighters believe the teen was running after a football Sunday evening in the 700 block of Balroyal Drive. The football landed on ice in a pond. Unfortunately the teen discovered the ice on the pond was not very thick and fell in. He could not make it back to shore.With temperatures near freezing, every minute became more dangerous for the teen still stuck in the icy water. The Wayne Township Fire Department crew slipped into ice rescue suits and into the pond to rescue the teen. He was taken to Methodist Hospital and checked for hypothermia.Firefighters warn even testing the ice is not enough, so just stay off it completely.
****************************** ****************************** *
Story 2:

http://www.indystar.com/print/articles/1/008853-8301-009.html

Teenage boy hospitalized after falling through ice

December 16, 2002

Marion County,IN
A 13-year-old boy who fell through ice on a pond on the city's Westside was taken to Methodist Hospital on Sunday evening.
The youth was treated for hypothermia at the scene Sunday, and his injuries did not appear to be life-threatening, officials said. But no one at the hospital with information about his condition could be reached.
Firefighters say they think the teenager was trying to retrieve a football from an ice-covered pond in the Chapel Glen Estates housing addition when the ice broke and he fell in.
The boy flailed and dog-paddled in the icy water until rescue crews arrived and pulled him out, said Capt. Matt Stewart of the Wayne Township Fire Department tactical rescue team.
Firefighters were called after another child saw the incident from his home and told a parent, who called 911, Stewart said.
They got the call at about 5:03 p.m. and had pulled the teen from the water by 5:11 p.m., Stewart said.
People should not walk or skate on iced-over bodies of water, even if the ice seems thick, he said.

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http://www.record-eagle.com/2002/dec/15save.htm

December 15, 2002

Icy plunge into lake ends up a warm story

By BILL ECHLIN
Record-Eagle staff writer

FRANKFORT, MI- Bill Frary of Frankfort figures he was within minutes of dying in the freezing waters of Crystal Lake Wednesday when Jay Darling happened on the scene and, with the help of rescue experts, plucked him out.
"I had been in the water about 45 minutes and I was cold," Frary said. "When I got to the hospital my body temperature was down to 91."
Frary, 58 and a crane operator for Luedke Engineering Co., was fishing in his 10-foot pram when his lines got tangled. He was trying to get things in order when the boat flipped. Frary was able to grab a life vest and slip it on. But he was too far from shore to swim and no one had seen him go into the drink.
Darling, also a Frankfort resident and an American Airlines pilot, told Frary later he was driving by the Lobb Road boat launch where Frary put in his boat and thought something didn't look right. He had spotted Frary's mostly submerged boat but saw no one near it. He stopped to check more closely when a second man stopped and offered a pair of binoculars.
Frary said he couldn't see because his glasses were frosted up but he could hear the two talking and started yelling for help. They spotted him some ways from the boat.
Darling immediately called for help and headed to his nearby house to get his boat. When he got back, officers from the Benzie Sheriff's Department Marine Patrol and the Frankfort Fire Department were also arriving. Clad in recently purchased survival suits, rescuers climbed into Darling's boat and he took them out to Frary. They jumped into the water and boosted Frary into the boat.
"I told them I couldn't climb in, I was done, spent," Frary said. "But I think I should get something from the polar bear club for the longest swim," he added with a laugh.
After he was treated and released a couple hours later from Paul Oliver Memorial Hospital, Frary got to thank Darling.
"He said he was a real low-profile guy, and I said not any more - you're a hero, my guardian angel," Frary said.
Sheriff Robert Blank agrees and plans to honor Darling with a Citizens Award.

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Editorial comment: A typical ice rescue operation taking 45 - 60 minutes to execute can be reduced to 7 - 12 minutes through the use of an airboat.

Mock rescue shows ice hazards

By Peter Demarco, Globe Correspondent
12/20/2002

State Trooper Richard White, wearing a wet suit, bobbed helplessly amid the ice shards of the Charles River yesterday. In a flash, a fan-propelled airboat - blowing a chilly mist in its wake - zoomed in, plucked him from the water, and returned him to shore.
The training exercise, held under sunny skies with temperatures near 50 degrees, hardly seemed challenging. But officials said that was one of the points they were trying to hammer home: Trained professionals with proper equipment can rescue a victim from the ice far more easily and safely than anyone else. ''If this was a real rescue, it would go this easy. We are trained to do this,'' said Trooper Blake Gilmore of the State Police Underwater Recovery Unit. ''We're reminding people who are not trained not to go on the ice. We're just going to end up with more people in the water that way.''
This story ran on page B3 of the Boston Globe on 12/20/2002.

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http://www.nonpareilonline.com/toolbox/story_printer.php?u_id=601332&u_brow=Internet+Explorer&u_ver=6

Man brought back to life after fall

Saturday, December 21, 2002

COURTNEY BRUMMER and JASON KUIPER
Staff Writers

OMAHA, NE - A 40-year-old Omaha man was brought back to life and listed in critical condition at NHS University Hospital in Omaha after he fell from the Interstate 480 bridge into the Missouri River.
Council Bluffs police Sgt. Bob Brietzke said Omaha and Council Bluffs police were notified of a man who appeared to be ready to jump off of the bridge shortly before 10 p.m. So far, it has not been determined whether the man fell or jumped.
"Whoever called it in said there was a man on the side of the bridge. Omaha got there before we did," he said. "There's a pole on the other side of the bridge and he was hanging off of it. We're told he just let go, and didn't make a sound."
The man had been hanging from a light pole before he fell between 60 to 75 feet from the bride to the river, Lt. R.L. Miller said.
Missouri River water levels were low at the time and acting Assistant Fire Chief Dave Waugh said the water temperature was 41 degrees Fahrenheit
Omaha police dispatched their helicopter, Abel One, to aid in the search as officers and rescue workers searched the river waters for the man. He was found 20 to 30 minutes later about a half mile from the bridge, near the Harrah's Council Bluffs Casino & Hotel boat docks.
Council Bluffs Fire Department officials said they received the report of a man in the river at 10:11 p.m.
Harrah's employees, trained in water rescue, were able to quickly get a small boat in the water and pulled the man in and brought him to shore where rescue crews worked on him.
Initial reports indicated that the man was unresponsive when rescue workers and Harrah's personnel pulled him from the river, and he was pronounced dead at the shore. However, Brietzke said while in transport to NHS University Hospital, paramedics were able to resuscitate him.
"He was unresponsive," he said. "But when medics started working on him, they found a faint pulse and went from there."
The man, whose name has not yet been released, was brought to the hospital at about 10:50 p.m. Hospital staff were able to maintain the man's heart activity and worked on warming his blood.
"He's responsive," Brietzke said. "He's not awake. There is a heartbeat, but he's listed in critical. That's what we're being told."
In addition to the Council Bluffs Police and Fire departments and the Omaha Police Department, the Omaha Fire Department and Iowa State Patrol also assisted in the rescue.

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http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/valleyindependent/news/print_109093.html

Search to continue
River Rescue workers search

Gregory D. Sofranko/The Valley Independent

By The Valley Independent
Saturday, December 21, 2002

River Rescue workers searched unsuccessfully Friday for a man who reportedly jumped from the Charleroi-Monessen Bridge, which spans the Monongahela River. Marcus V. Tyree, 22, of 545 Isabell Ave., North Charleroi, reportedly jumped from the bridge approximately 12:30 a.m. Friday. The incident reportedly was fueled by an argument between Tyree and his girlfriend. Fire personnel from Greensburg, New Eagle, Gallatin-Sunnyside, Donora, Charleroi, Webster, Washington Township, and both Monessen fire companies continued the search Friday north of the bridge. The search will continue Saturday, Lock Four Fire Chief Jim Yelanich reported.

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http://fox17.trb.com/templates/misc/printstory.jsp?slug=122502%2Dw xmi%2Dhovercraft&section=%2Fnews

Good Samaritans Come to Rescue on Lincoln Lake

SPENCER TOWNSHIP, MN -- Two people were plucked from a lake in Spencer Township on Christmas after joyriding in a hovercraft.
Authorities say the pair was doing doughnuts on the ice at Lincoln Lake when the hovercraft rolled over.
Spencer Township is in northeast Kent County.
Witnesses saw the accident and rescued both of the hovercraft's passengers in another boat. Spencer Township Fire Chief Alan Wright says, "Citizens from the township, they grabbed a boat, rowed out, grabbed the two victims, brought them to the shore and they were treated for mild hypothermia in the ambulance."
The victims spent ten minutes in the icy water. They're expected to fully recover.
Rescue teams say they got lucky.

Story two:

http://www.woodtv.com/Global/story.asp?S=1061542&nav=0RceD3rk

Two saved in Lincoln Lake rescue

(Spencer Township, December 25, 2002)

Some scary moments for a Spencer Township man and his nephew on Christmas day.
Their holiday came close to ending in tragedy on Lincoln Lake in Northeastern Kent County. But, they can thank two heroes for being alive.
The man and his nephew were out in their hover craft around 3:00 p.m. in Lincoln Lake. The boy fell out and the boat capsized. For almost ten minutes, they clung to the ice. Luckily, two neighbors saw what happened, ran outside, grabbed a paddleboat, and without lifejackets of their own, pulled them out of the icy water.
The identities of the two who fell in have not been released. They are expected to be okay.

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http://www.ksfy.com/Global/story.asp?S=1060314&nav=0w0jD4FO

Water Rescue

By: Tom Powell
December 26, 2002
Balaton, MN - The water was bitterly cold, and time was running out. But thanks to the quick thinking of the Balaton Fire Department in Southwest Minnesota, two victims of an accident on Lake Yankton survived.
Firefighters say 38-year old John Van Overbeke, and 34-year old Craig Bakke were riding their four-wheeler when it fell through the ice. They were trapped in the water for more than a half hour before they were pulled out. Lake Yankton is a popular place for winter sports. The ice is just deep enough for fishing, but the two men found out how dangerous it can be.
The Balaton Fire Department has a lot of water rescue equipment, but it wasn't the boat that saved John Van Overbeke and Craig Bakke Sunday night. It was the person paddling inside, Jason Anderson. "They were shivering pretty bad. One seemed to be worse than the other," he says. Jason knew the rescue team had to work fast, and together.
"It's teamwork. It's not just one person,"says another firefighter. They've been through a water rescue before, but never like this. "Yeah as a matter of fact, two winters ago we rescued a family pet, a German Shepherd that had fallen through the ice in the same area," says Anderson.
Simba the dog was at the site when the rescue team went back Monday, and so was one of the victim's brothers - Randy Van Overbeke. Randy says his brother John and his friend Craig are avid outdoors men who made a mistake, one that could have killed them if it wasn't for the Balaton team. "He said he was close. He was just about ready to give it up," Randy tells the team. But no one gave up; not John, not Craig, and certainly not the rescue team. "Yeah, I bless them. They made my Christmas,"says Randy.
The team watched him load the four-wheeler Monday. It may have reached the end of it's road, but thanks to teamwork, the two men who were riding it have not.
Both Craig and John are family guys. Randy tells us Craig has a young girl and John has four young kids. Both families are glad dad will be home for Christmas.

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http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=6527527&BRD=2185&PAG=461&dept_id=416046&rfi=6

Hawley boy, 11, rescued from creek

BY SCOTT DEACLE / WAYNE COUNTY BUREAU CHIEF
12/28/2002

-- Hawley firefighters say they rescued an 11-year-old boy stranded in Middle Creek on Christmas.

HAWLEY, PA - Hawley Fire Chief Eugene E. Krause said Bradley Orazzi, a River Street resident, told him he slipped and fell in the creek as he tried to retrieve his snowboard, which had fallen in.

The boy couldn't be reached for comment Friday.

The fire department got the call about Bradley at 11:44 a.m. and found the boy standing waist-deep in the water, unable to move, Chief Krause said. "He said his legs were so cold, he couldn't walk anymore."

Bradley stood in a part of Middle Creek partly enclosed by a concrete flood-control channel. A fence separated the boy from firefighters.

Firefighters lowered two ropes to the boy, one with a life jacket, Chief Krause said. They told Bradley to put on the life jacket and tie the other rope around his waist. Firefighter Vince Mauslof then entered the water downstream, just below the end of the fence, Chief Krause said. With a rope held by other firefighters, Mr. Mauslof walked about 40 feet upstream to pull the boy to waiting firefighters.

Bradley was out of the water 11 minutes after the fire department was dispatched, Chief Krause said. He was treated for hypothermia at Wayne Memorial Hospital and released that evening, the chief said.

Firefighters used a life jacket and ropes they bought after they had to make a similar rescue earlier this year, Chief Krause said. The department helped three girls out of the water in June.

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http://www.nbc5.com/news/1857148/detail.html

Two Men Rescued After ATV Falls Through Ice On Lake

December 27, 2002
ORLAND PARK, Ill. -- Firefighters rescued two men whose all-terrain vehicles fell through an iced-over lake in a south suburban forest preserve Thursday.
Both men, ages 37 and 39, were treated for hypothermia. One man was treated and released. The other remained hospitalized and was listed in serious condition Thursday night.
Fire officials got a 911 call about the accident shortly after 8 p.m., Orland Park Fire Chief Tom Grossman said.
Grossman said the two were riding ATVs on Turtlehead Lake, at 135th and Harlem Avenue, when they fell through ice that was about two inches thick.
Onlookers helped pull the men out of the lake.
"It was not smart for these guys to do this," Grossman said.

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http://abclocal.go.com/wls/news/print_122702_ns_rescues.html

Emergency crews pull people from frozen lake

December 27, 2002 (Wauconda, IL) — Rescue crews say two accidents should serve as a warning about venturing onto ice-covered waters. Emergency crews had to rescue four people in two separate incidents after they fell through thin ice.
A fisherman and ice skater pulled a woman and her child out of Lake Bangs in Wauconda, Illinois, after their snowmobile plunged through the frozen over lake. Both were treated at the scene.
"The wife and child decided to go for a little snowmobile ride and they were turning around to come back and they hit a little soft ice and sank and luckily we heard the screams fast enough, took another snowmobile over there, got the -- she was holding the child up. Grabbed her fast and then some other people ran over on ice skates and with some ropes and we had my wife back out in about another minute," said Mike Salisbury, woman's husband.
Two men on ATV's went through the ice at Turtle Head Lake. They were rescued by bystanders.

Meanwhile, in southwest suburban Palos Park, two men on ATV's went through the ice at Turtle Head Lake. They were rescued by bystanders. One is in fair condition, suffering from hypothermia. The other was released from the hospital overnight. Park districts around the area have warning signs posted around lakes and ponds.

NOTE: Video clips will only be available for 10-days from the date they were created.

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http://www.woi-tv.com/global/story.asp?s=1064610&ClientType=Printable

Teens Fall Through Ice At Copper Creek

December 30, 2002

WOI-TV
Des Moine, IO - The icy waters of a local lake almost swallowed three teens today. Thankfully, help got to them just in time. Police say three teenage boys were playing on the ice above Copper Creek in Pleasant Hill today about 200 feet from shore when they fell
through. Ironically, a Pleasant Hill police officer, there to tell the boys to get
off the ice, saw it happen and called for help. Pleasant Hill firefighters rushed to the water's edge and were able to bring two of them in right away with just throw bags. But in order to get the third teen out, firefighters had to break a pathway through the ice for their boat, and one man actually had to jump in and pull the boy out.
Sgt. Dennis Sorensen of the Pleasant Hill Police Department said the boys were probably going to be okay. We confirmed that at least one of them was treated and released from the hospital.
The firefighters were ready for just this type of rescue. Just a couple weeks ago, Kevin Mienke of the Pleasant Hill Fire Department mentioned to his crew that the ice conditions were just right for something like this to happen. Sure enough, he said, it was just enough ice that kids get enough confidence to think they can go out there. Mienke says even when does it gets cold, and the layer of ice is thicker on Copper Creek, you should still steer clear of walking on it, because its fast current and deep waters make it dangerous.

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http://www.nytimes.com/2002/12/31/nyregion/31LAKE.html?ei=5062&en=41d18570c0db120d&ex=1042002000&partner=GOOGLE&pagewanted=print&position=top

Rescuers Save Man Who Fell Through Thin Ice on Park Lake in Brooklyn

December 31, 2002
By THOMAS J. LUECK

A Brooklyn man walking on thin ice in a Prospect Park lake fell through yesterday, leading to a rescue that involved parks personnel, a police helicopter, fire trucks and detectives in scuba gear.
The man, identified by the police as Kenneth Grasso, 24, was treated and released at Kings County Hospital Center for what his rescuers described as severe hypothermia after being trapped in Prospect Park Lake for more than 30 minutes.
"When I got to him, he had no strength left at all," said Detective Thomas Kelly, a police rescue specialist who managed to free Mr. Grasso from the ice after falling through himself.
It was the first ice rescue in a city park in three years, the police said, and it occurred in a lake that is unusually dangerous because of its depth. Although he was less than 100 feet from shore in a narrow channel between the Wollman Rink and Terrace Bridge, Mr. Grasso found himself foundering in about 10 feet of water, the police said.
Adrian Benepe, the city parks commissioner, said last night that the incident underscored the danger of walking on ice in city parks, which is prohibited unless department signs are posted indicating that the ice is safe for skaters.
Prospect Park Lake has more than 70 signs that read "Danger — Thin Ice" surrounding it, he said. "People simply shouldn't walk on any ice," Mr. Benepe said. "We do our best to keep them out of harm's way, but we still have to count on people's common sense and sense of self-preservation."
The authorities said park workers first noticed Mr. Grasso walking on the Prospect Park Lake channel shortly before 3 p.m. with a woman and several children. The others in his group were closer to shore than Mr. Grasso was when he fell through. They escaped harm, the police said.
A group of park workers were among the first to respond, including Luther Weir, who attempted unsuccessfully to rescue Mr. Grasso by attaching a rope to one of several rescue ladders that are stationed around the lake. Mr. Grasso groped helplessly in a hole in the ice that grew to a diameter of 10 feet. .
A police helicopter proved of little use when it became clear that it could not descend enough without further endangering Mr. Grasso by blowing ice toward him, said Detective Keith Duval, a police scuba specialist who accompanied Detective Kelly.
By then, with Mr. Grasso almost motionless in the water, Detective Duval said, Detective Kelly crawled toward Mr. Grasso over the perilously thin ice. But he fell in with Mr. Grasso as the ice gave way.
Detective Kelly managed to tie a rope to Mr. Grasso, however, and as Detective Duval pulled the rope, Detective Kelly pushed toward shore, breaking away ice in his path until the two rescuers were able to hoist Mr. Grasso to safety, the police said.

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http://www.wmtw.com/Global/story.asp?S=1067467&nav=7k6rD909

Mother dies after trying to rescue teens from ocean

January 1, 2003, 12:41 PM
PORTLAND, MA (AP) -- A Massachusetts woman who jumped into the surf off Reid State Park to save her son and daughter has died, according to the Coast Guard.
Officials said Patricia Taylor of Groton, Mass. went into the icy water in her jeans and Polar fleece top late Tuesday afternoon when her teenage children got caught in strong beach currents while surfing.
The incident unfolded at 4:30 p.m. at Reid State Park in Georgetown. The three, along with two emergency response rescuers from the Georgetown Fire Department, ended up being carried away by the current.
A 43-foot rescue boat made its way to the scene in choppy seas and poor visibility to pluck all five out of the water.
The skipper, Chad Johnson, said Taylor was unconscious and that emergency medical technicians were unable to get a response.
The 51-year-old woman was taken to a Brunswick hospital before being transferred to the Maine Medical Center in Portland, where she died. Her children, a 16-year-old boy and a 15-year-old girl, were treated and released from the Brunswick hospital.

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http:www.TheWBALChannel.com

Deer Pulled From Lake In Frederick Co.

Three Rescued; One Deer Died From Hypothermia, Exhaustion

December 31, 2002

NEW MARKET, Md. -- Rescue workers in Frederick County were able to save three deer that fell through the ice as they crossed Lake Linganore. But a fourth died of hypothermia and exhaustion.
Three other deer managed to get to the shore on their own.
The seven deer fell through the ice around 1:00 p.m. Monday. A resident saw the deer and called for help.

Animal Control officers and rescuers from the New Market and Carroll Manor fire companies brought boats to help pull the deer out. It was the maiden voyage for the New Market fire company's water rescue boat.
The three rescued deer were released after crews rubbed them to revive them.
Stay with TheWBALChannel.com and 11 News for the latest news updates.

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http://www.wbay.com/Global/story.asp?S=1071251&nav=51s7DC5j

Two People in Pickup Truck Fall Through Ice

WBAY TV
January 5, 2003

Oconto County, WI
Brazeau, - 14-year-old boy and a 22-year-old man were taken to a hospital Saturday night after the pickup truck they were riding in went through the ice on a lake in Oconto County.
Witnesses say they saw the pickup truck sink quickly into Rost Lake in the town of Brazeau, which is west of Coleman, around three o'clock in the afternoon. The Eagle III rescue helicopter and dive teams were called to the scene.
The sheriff's department says the two were underwater for more than 45 minutes. They weren't breathing and didn't have a pulse.
They were taken to Bay Area Medical Center in Marinette. Authorities aren't releasing the victims' names or conditions until relatives have been notified.
We talked with several neighbors who spoke with friends and a brother of the victims just after the accident. We were told the five go hunting together and were going to the lake to go ice fishing on a lake they don't visit too often, and they didn't know the ice was so thin.
Those who responded to the emergency call say the ice deceptively looks frozen on some areas, with people ice fishing there.
"This is why you keep hearing on TV, stay off the ice," Brazeau assistant fire chief Dod Duddeck said. "You don't know the lake, if you think the lake is frozen over, you drive over the lake, and this is what happens."
Some neighbors tell us this isn't neccessarily a case of ignorance. They say they've never seen open water on the lake like this at this time of year.
Besides that, neighbors say the men involved in the accident come up here at least once a year to go ice fishing and should know the lake well.
"It was open but then it freezes and then it looks just like the regular ice, a little darker, not up here, you're not going to know. You'll drive on there and never know," neighbor Jenny Herzog said.

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http://www.lowellsun.com/cda/article/print/0,1674,105%257E4746%257E108572 3,00.html

Kids' surfing excursion ends tragically for Groton mom

By CHRISTOPHER SCOTT
Lowell Sun Staff

Thursday, January 02, 2003 - GEORGETOWN, Maine Having surfed the winter breakers that pound the mid-Maine coast dozens of times before, siblings Chris and Karen Roberts of Groton entered the 42-degree water late Tuesday afternoon well-prepared, wearing wetsuits, hoods and gloves.But when the teens became separated and pulled farther out to sea by unusually strong currents, their panicked-stricken parents watching on the shoreline in street clothes reacted instinctively. Within minutes, their mother, 51-year-old Patricia Taylor found herself in the water, floating on a surfboard alongside her daughter as rescuers tried in vain to reach them both.A little less than an hour later, Taylor, the teens and two would-be rescuers were pulled from the waters by the Coast Guard. Taylor was unconscious, having been overcome by the icy temperatures. Efforts to revive her were unsuccessful, and she was declared dead a short time later at a local hospital. Yesterday, Kenneth Roberts and his two children were back in their Wyman Road home, still trying to piece together the swirling chain of events that led to the death of their wife and mother. Kenneth Roberts initially told investigators that his wife had jumped into the water in an attempt to rescue the teens. But he said his daughter who floated on the surfboard with her still-conscious mother for the better part of an hour said Taylor told her she had slipped from an outcropping of rocks. "I wish I could tell you more but there were no actual witnesses to her going into the water and things spiraled out of control quickly after that," he said this morning.The incident occurred at about 4:30 p.m., in the twilight on New Year's Eve at Reid State Park, a scenic slice of rocky headlands, sand and pine trees at the end of a finger of land not far from Boothbay Harbor. At low tide, as was the case Tuesday, the depth of the ocean where the waves break was only several feet, Roberts said, which normally makes it a pretty safe place to ride the waves. But on this day, a strong current and six-foot waves began dragging them farther from shore.Panicking, Taylor climbed up a small outcropping to get her daughter's attention when she suddenly found herself in the water, Roberts said. Unable to climb back on the rocks, Taylor, wearing only jeans and a fleece top, swam to her daughter and the surfboard, a distance of about 25 yards. Resisting urges to be "foolishly heroic," Roberts said he ran to a nearby rangers hut to get help.Mother and daughter floated on the board together while the current kept them from shore. "She was in the water the better part of an hour before she lost consciousness," Roberts said of his wife.A rescue crew from the Georgetown Fire Department was on the scene in minutes.Two firefighters in full wetsuits climbed into a small rescue craft and headed out into the choppy sea, but the waves soon capsized their boat. The firefighters managed to use a life-saving board to reach Taylor and the teens, but they also could not fight their way against the strong current, authorities said. "I had great hopes the firefighters would be able to bring them in," said Roberts.Coast Guard personnel in South Portland got the call for help from rangers at the park shortly after 4:40 p.m., said Coast Guard Chief Jay Woodhead.With a Coast Guard station in Boothbay Harbor just a short distance away, a 47-foot rescue boat headed southwest to the scene. With visibility down to 50 yards or less on rough seas, it took rescuers about 25 minutes to reach the scene; it took another 20 minutes before the five victims had been pulled from the water, authorities said. Taylor was unconscious when pulled onto the rescue boat. Authorities estimated she had been in the water about 50 minutes."In water that cold a person can survive no more than an hour without the proper gear," Woodhead said.Taylor was taken with the others to Mid Coast Hospital in Brunswick and later transferred to Maine Medical Center, where she was pronounced dead."She suffered acute hypothermia," said Roberts, referring to the clinical state when the body is unable to generate sufficient heat to maintain functions.The others were treated and released from the Brunswick hospital.Roberts and Taylor are both software engineers at EDS Corp. in Nashua. The family has owned property near Boothbay Harbor for nearly two decades.Over the years, Chris, a sophomore at Groton-Dunstable Regional High School, and Karen, a freshman at Lawrence Academy, had become quite proficient at riding the waves. Reid State Park is one of the family's favorite spots to surf. "They had wonderful (wetsuits) and the proper equipment," Roberts said of his children. Woodhead said other Coast Guard rescuers suspect a strong undertow kept the victims from getting back to shore."It must have been very strong because they weren't too far out," Woodhead said.
Christopher Scott's e-mail address is cscott@lowellsun.com .

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http://c1.zedo.com/ads2/d/3853/172/162/105/1/i0.html?e=i;s=76;m=101;w=49;z= 0.02906942172538529

Jan. 05, 2003

Man dies after car falls into ice

THIN ICE:Rescue workers will continue looking today for the body in the St. Louis River.

BY CRAIG LINCOLN
DULUTH NEWS TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER

DULUTH,MN - Rescue workers called off an attempt to recover the body of a person in the St. Louis River minutes after seeing the body with an underwater camera late in the cold twilight Saturday.
Rescue divers couldn't make it to the body in the dim light, said Douglas County Sheriff Richard Pukema.
"We had a camera visual on the body," Pukema said. But the visual distortion caused by water slowed divers down enough that they had to call off the recovery effort without success.
Pukema said rescuers will continue looking today.
The decision to stop the recovery shortly before 5 p.m. ended a frenzied rescue started by a description of a lone car sinking through the ice on the St. Louis River.
The call came shortly after noon from a woman in the Riverside neighborhood, said Sgt. Gordon Ramsay of the Duluth Police Department.
Ramsey said the woman said she saw a car on the ice on the river in the distance. Then she saw it stopped and a person on the hood.
Surprised, she went to get her binoculars. The person and the car were gone when she returned, Ramsay said.
A faint set of tire tracks could still be seen a few hours later on the ice near Spirit Lake Marine, a marina off Spring Street.
The tracks curved gently along a pressure ridge in the river's ice, which in turn curved into a deep channel with a current that in the summer is marked with buoys between shore and Clough Island.
Duluth Fire Department rescuers were first to reach the spot where the vehicle broke through.
"We found a big hole and the strong odor of gas," said Bryan Bushey, assistant fire chief.
Fire Department rescuers in survival suits were in the water quickly, he said, but were unable to find the body.
The accident happened where a peculiarity of geography brought Wisconsin authorities into the rescue effort.
The Wisconsin border goes over the St. Louis River near the marina. The end of the marina's piers and Tallus Island, which is a few yards off the Minnesota shore, are in Wisconsin.
Pukema said authorities decided to keep St. Louis County rescue squads working on the recovery because they had already responded and had better equipment for such rescues.
The U.S. Coast Guard and Douglas County emergency and rescue squads also were on the scene.
For a couple of hours, yellow-suited rescuers swam in the water and probed the bottom with long wooden poles with hooks on the ends.
Meanwhile, people skated and drove ATVs by the site to enjoy the rare combination of glare ice with no snow.
One group completed a skate from Fond-du-Lac as the rescue effort was under way.
Because of the vague report and lack of a positive identification on the vehicle, authorities do not know the identity of the victim.
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Story 2

http://www.kdlh.com/news/headlines/171081.html

1 Dies in St. Louis River Ice Accident

Kandi Klamm
KDLH TV news

A person is dead after a car breaks through the thin ice over the Saint Louis River.
It happened around Noon on Saturday.
Douglas County Authorities say an eyewitness called 911 after seeing a car sink into the lake, and a person struggling – and failing -- to get out.
Cold water rescue crews joined emergency responders from both Saint Louis and Douglas Counties.
A couple hours later, the car was spotted in 29 feet of water.
Just before five, a diver spotted a body lying at the river bottom.
That’s when the search was called off.
It was too dark to continue the efforts to pull up the body and the car.
More divers and special equipment will be brought in Sunday morning.
Crews hope to begin recovery efforts at about 11:00 a.m.
The ice on the St. Louis River is 6 inches thick or less.
The Department of Natural Resources warns ice that thin is not safe to drive on.

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http://www.dailysouthtown.com/southtown/yrtwn/seast/055seyt1.htm

Fire chief says 911 tapes discredit two witnesses

Sunday, January 5, 2003

By Kati Phillips
Staff writer

Orland, IL - Orland Fire Protection District officials, stung by criticism that rescue crews botched a recent emergency call to Turtlehead Lake, released 911 call records to show they responded appropriately. Fire Chief Robert Buhs said the tape discredits two witnesses who criticized emergency crews for standing in the parking lot of a Cook County Forest Preserve debating jurisdiction rather than rescuing two men who had fallen into the lake.Five Orland fire district crews were dispatched to the scene Dec. 26 and the tapes show that none of them debated who should take the call, Buhs said.Witnesses were correct when they reported seeing men with the ambulances and fire trucks in the parking lot, but they did not realize the vehicles were not equipped to go over the concrete curb and lacked four-wheel drive to maneuver in the snow, he said. Five rescue workers were making their way to the accident scene on foot by the time bystanders had pulled the two men from the water, he said.Buhs played tapes of the 911 calls and communication between the men and the dispatch center for a reporter Friday. He was accompanied by a battalion chief and a member of the fire district's board of trustees."We want to defend these guys because they were doing their job," board member Cynthia Nelson Katsenes said. "Everyday, these guys save people's lives. (Waiting around) flies against their common sense and training. If anything, you have to hold them back."Witnesses Mark Temple of Palos Heights and Patrick Connelly of Palos Park questioned the department's response to the accident last week.Both saw Brian Duggan of Palos Heights ride his all-terrain vehicle across the lake and break through the ice, and watched as his friend, Charles Dunnigan of Chicago Ridge, fell in trying to save him. Temple also fell in during a rescue attempt, but was able to pull himself out. Connelly drove a snowmobile to a nearby house, and he and another man used a rope to pull Duggan and Dunnigan to safety.Records show five rescue crews were dispatched to the lake at 8:14 p.m., about one minute after a dispatcher from the Cook County Sheriff's Department received a call about people in the lake. That call was broken off because of a bad connection, he said.By 8:20 p.m., five firefighters and divers, including one in an ice rescue suit, were running to the scene, about a quarter- to a half-mile from the parking lot, records show.Four minutes later, an officer from Engine 2 reported the two men were out of the water and were being transported in a truck by a bystander to the ambulances in the parking area, records show.Temple and Connelly said they saw the rescue workers in the parking lot and en route to the lake, but charge they did not help in the rescue. Temple delivered a letter critical of the district's response to the Orland Park Village Board Friday, according to his wife, Karen. He says the trustees should advise emergency crews to jump curbs and drive to accident scenes.The Orland Park Fire District is an independent government unit that covers Orland Park, Orland Hills and parts of Orland Township. It is not funded by and does not answer to the village board.Buhs said the department does not have any four-wheel drive vehicles, and on occasion has had to use forest preserve bike paths or to commandeer private vehicles to get to a rescue scene.In hindsight, Buhs said it would have been good if a witness had met the emergency crews in the parking lot to direct them to the scene."If a guy on a snowmobile had picked us up in the parking lot, that would've been helpful," he said.Had the sheriff's department been able to keep the first caller on the line longer, the dispatcher may have requested that type of help, Buhs said. Other 911 calls were logged at 8:14 p.m., 8:16 p.m. and 8:19 p.m., placed by people who were not at the lake's edge. One caller said a friend at the lake asked him to call for help. Karen Temple called from her home after her husband called her on his cell phone. Buhs and Katsenes said there isn't money in the district budget to buy a four-wheel drive vehicle."How do you justify buying a vehicle you might only use once a year," Buhs said.

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http://www.thebostonchannel.com/news/1873869/detail.html?use=print

Divers Search Pond For Missing Farmer
Man May Have Tried To Help Cow

January 7, 2003

TheBostonChannel.com
BRIDGEWATER, Mass. -- Crews are searching a retention pond in Bridgewater for missing farmer John Zaro, who was last seen on Sunday.
NewsCenter 5's Rhondella Richardson said that a dog brought to the scene to help rescuers picked up a scent Tuesday morning.
"Since he was last seen, yeah it's going on a couple of days, I am doing OK," Zaro's brother, Mark, said.
The Zaro family is preparing for the worst.
"They concentrated on the pond because there were hoof marks down there and there was recent breakage of the ice," Zaro's sister-in-law, Frances, said. "(It would be hard to get out) because of the clay bottom and the amount of clothes he would be wearing -- they don't think it would be a possibility."
A neighbor said that he heard a man yelling on Sunday.
"It was on the perimeter of this body of water," Bridgewater Fire Department Chief Roderick Walsh said.
Officials think that Zaro, 55, was trying to help a troubled cow that may have fallen through the ice.
"He was pretty good a lassoeing, and he could have been trying to pull it in that way," Mark Zaro said. "Whether he went in after it, again, for his cows he would spare nothing."
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Story 2

http://www.thebostonchannel.com/news/1874987/detail.html

Search Suspended For Missing Farmer
Cold Weather Forces Divers Out Of Pond

January 7, 2003
BRIDGEWATER, Mass. -- The search for a missing Bridgewater farmer turned frustrating and disappointing Tuesday.
NewsCenter 5's Rhondella Richardson said that crews used search dogs and an airboat to comb a pond on the farm property leased by 55-year-old John Zaro. The search had to be suspended when the cold temperatures posed a threat to divers.
"I've had a lot of people call and ask what they can do. All we can really do is pray," Zaro's sister-in-law, Frances, said.

Zaro was last seen on Sunday afternoon. Officials think that Zaro may have went into the pond after one of his cows.
"When we first went to the area yesterday, we noticed flail marks on the ice. They would not be from an animal," Bridgewater Fire Department Chief Roderick Walsh said.
"He was tied to the land -- season by season," Zaro's brother, Mark, said.
Three-square miles were searched on and around the pond and farm where Zaro lives. Dogs signiled a scent from the wate, but divers had to be pulled out because of the weather.
"They detected a scent, but the (body) could be a distance from that particular point," Walsh said.
Officials plan to pump the water out of the pond and start again Wednesday.
"I am impressed by the effort. It's a tragedy, most likely, for me and my family. I know that they are doing the best that they can to recover the body. It will be another sleepless night," Zaro's brother, Paul, said.

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http://www.wbay.com/Global/story.asp?S=1073031&nav=51s7DDTA

Survivor Recalls Recovery After Fall Into Icy River

By Jerry Burke
Colin Deeg appreciates how lucky he is. He was dead when he was pulled from the icy Fox River eleven years ago.
"I just remember me and my friend going out there and then I woke up in the hospital," says Deeg.
That's all he remembers from Valentine's Day, 1992, when he fell into the Fox. He was under the ice for 20 minutes before rescue crews pulled him from the river.
Doctors said he had one huge advantage when hypothermia shut his body down, and that was his age.
"Children have a very strong heart. It's usually respiratory problems that they will arrest in first," Ruth Wulgaert said.
Wulgaert was part of the medical team that worked on Deeg when he arrived at St. Elizabeth's Hospital in Appleton.
"The thing I remember the most was the fact that he was so cold, just like an ice cube, when we were touching him, and wherever we worked on him, we were freezing also because he was so terribly cold," she said.
Slowly, Deeg's body was warmed. To the medical staff's delight, the then-nine-year-old recovered. Medical personnel call Deeg their "miracle patient."
Now, at age 20, Deeg has no residual effects.
"I think it's a lot of luck. Like, I joke around about having nine lives and all that for the longest time, and I believe it, too."
Deeg says he still goes out on the ice but he is extra careful. "If I see people driving on it, I'll go on it. Otherwise, I won't be the first person any more."
He also says there's no way he'll go on any ice the way the weather's been this winter.

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http://www.thewmurchannel.com/news/1875418/detail.html

Two Die In Thin-Ice Incident
Officials Say To Avoid Larger Lakes

January 7, 2003

MEREDITH, N.H. -- Two snowmobile drivers died after falling through the ice on Kezar Lake Tuesday afternoon.
Rescuers came to the aid of four men who had plunged into the icy water just across the border in Lovell, Maine.
The two others are in the hospital. The victims' names are not being released until their families are notified.

The incident is the latest ice-related emergency in the state. Since Sunday, there have been reports of at least a dozen snowmobiles through ice in the Lakes Region.
Scott Porter was riding to work Tuesday morning with Jim Bourdon, driving snowmobiles out to Whortleberry Island on Lake Winnipesaukee to survey a job. Their commute came to an abrupt stop when their two sleds went through a thin, slushy area of ice near Little Bear Island.
"It just turned to slush," Porter said. "It was safe, and then it wasn't safe."
Both men got out of the water and crawled to shore, where they called for help. They said their mistake was going too far out on the lake.
The thin ice is a problem in many areas. Sunday, three snowmobiles went through ice in Laconia on Paugus Bay. Officials said 2 to 3 feet of snow on top of the ice is insulating it. Their message is to stay off the bigger lakes.
"It's going to take even longer to freeze them," Laconia Fire Chief Ken Erickson said. "The cold air has to go through 3, 4 feet of snow to get to the water, chill the water, then the water has to come back up and form ice."
Officials said the ice on smaller lakes and ponds is a lot safer right now, because they've been frozen for a while, and many were frozen before the new snow fell.

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http://images.trafficmp.com/tmpad/content/expedia/expedia16.html

Ice accident turns out fortunate for local man

By ROBIN R. PLASTERER Staff Writer

January 06, 2003

When Joe Kelsey fell through the ice into 10 feet of water, it seemed like an eternity as he hung onto the broken edge at his rural Columbia City home. But when he heard the sirens coming his direction, a calmness came over him. He knew help was on the way.
Kelsey fell through the ice at his pond in Columbia Township on Sunday afternoon.
He had been out on the frozen pond just 50 yards from his house with his two grandsons visiting from Michigan.
"They had a plastic sled and were playing on the edge of the pond. I was there too and it seemed safe and frozen. They asked if they could go out farther and I told them 'yes'. Pretty soon they came running back. They had heard the ice crack and knew it was dangerous," Kelsey said.
"I didn't think anything of it as the ice was cracking the entire time. The boys went on shore, and I took two steps to retrieve the sled. All at once it collapsed and down I went," he said.
Kelsey had fallen into 10 feet of ice-cold water. He hung onto the ice and never went under.
"I told the oldest to go get his grandma and their mother. I was fortunate the boys were there. If I had been alone no one would have noticed (my being gone) for hours," he said.
At one point Kelsey had pulled himself out but the ice broke and he went back into the icy water and waited.
Soon after the boys went to get help Kelsey head sirens. Within seven minutes the Whitley County EMS, Columbia Township Volunteer Fire Department and Whitley County Sheriff Mike Schrader were on the scene for the rescue.
"I live four miles out of Columbia City. The emergency personnel got there quick. I am forever thankful for that," he said.
"I don't know who all came but there were a lot of them. They were so fast in their response," Kelsey said.
Emergency rescuers threw him a rope and pulled him in.
"I held onto the rope but the ice began hurting my chest. It was like glass hitting my chest," he said.
Soon the rescuers threw him a board and he climbed on and they pulled him to safety. Kelsey spent about 15 minutes in the water according to police reports.
Kelsey was cold, nearly frozen and the rescuers warmed him in the EMS. They drove him to his home and wrapped him in a warm blanket.
After he was in dry clothes they checked him out.
"They helped me and I appreciate it. I warmed up in a lukewarm bath and it took quite a while," he said.
Kelsey's advice for others going out in the ice.
"I've been involved with the Boy Scouts for 40 years and this is one thing we study. Make sure it's safe before you go out on the ice. Never go out alone and make sure you take something to help with rescue such as a rope or a ladder," he said.
"The boys felt guilty for leaving the sled out there. They felt so bad. But I told them the sled is never that important to risk a life to get it and that it was my fault," he said.

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http://www.wisinfo.com/postcrescent/news/archive/local_7969908.shtml

Thin ice proving deadly in area
Three deaths, serious injuries highlight dangers

John Lee
Post-Crescent staff writer

Jan. 06, 2003
Winnegago Co, WI - A 44-year-old Tustin man died early today at Mercy Medical Center in Oshkosh, about 12 hours after he was pulled from the west end of Lake Poygan. His identity was withheld pending the notification of relatives.
At least three other people escaped serious injury when their snowmobiles went through the ice Sunday on two area lakes, authorities said. Winnebago County sheriff’s Lt. Mike Jones said the Tustin man did not have a pulse, was not breathing and was suffering from “severe hypothermia,” when he was pulled from the lake by rescuers on the Omro-Rushford Fire Department airboat.
Jones said the man apparently had been in the water for about 15 minutes, and underwater for about four minutes.“He either hit open water or thin ice. We don’t know for sure,” Jones said. Jones said the man was found in five to seven feet of water. After being alerted by neighbors, Norman Lee and his sons, Perry and Colin, used their airboat to reach the man, who was about two miles offshore from Captain’s Cove, 9598 Welsch Road, Winneconne, a bar on Lake Poygan. The call for help came in at 1:11 p.m.“Perry got behind him and I put my arms around him and pulled him up the front of the boat. He had a pulse, but he wasn’t breathing,” said Colin Lee, who is a first responder for the Winneconne-Poygan Fire District. The two Lee brothers then performed cardiopulmonary resuscitation.

Jones said indications are the man was alone.“We were able to get his pulse back, but we couldn’t get him back to breathing on his own,” said Colin Lee. “We couldn’t get all of the water out of his lungs.”

In the Oconto County accident, the Ebben brothers apparently were ice fishing. The Oconto County Sheriff’s Department said they were underwater for about 45 minutes.They were pulled from the truck by divers from County Rescue Services, who were sent to the lake with the Eagle III rescue helicopter about 3:20 p.m. Saturday.

Oconto County Coroner Laurie Parisey said the deaths will be listed as cold water drownings. She said Alan Ebben reportedly had been skating on the lake earlier, and several people saw their vehicle sink. “There wasn’t any ice, but they (the victims) didn’t realize it. It was real tragic,” Parisey said. People familiar with northeastern Wisconsin lakes said people should use caution, since some of the ice is thinner than normal this year because of mild weather.

Gary Nelson, owner of Captain’s Cove, said ice on that lake varies widely, from about a half inch to nearly a foot.The man’s snowmobile went through the ice on the north side of Poygan. “It’s spotty,” Nelson said. “We have very good ice in the cove. We have 8 inches to 10 inches.”Otherwise, he said, there is bad ice in general on the lake. “This is not the year to be dancing around if you don’t know where you’re going.”

At 1:52 p.m. Sunday, Christopher Korth, 22, of Oshkosh, and Eric Korth, 14, of Omro, got out of Lake Butte des Morts on their own and were given a ride from the lake by a nearby resident after their snowmobiles went through thin ice between Oshkosh and Omro, the Winnebago County Sheriff’s Department said. They were treated at the scene, but their sleds were on the bottom of the lake, Jones said. Outagamie County Sheriff’s Department officials said a man escaped injury Saturday when his snowmobile went though ice on Black Otter Lake in Hortonville.

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http://www.ctnow.com/news/custom/newsat3/hc-07215751.apds.m0227.bc-ct--snowjan07,0,1262243.story?coll =hc-headlines-newsat3

Two snowmobilers die after falling into Kezar Lake

Associated Press

January 7 2003

LOVELL, Maine -- Two Connecticut snowmobilers were killed Tuesday when their machines plunged through thin ice on Kezar Lake, authorities said.

Two other men in the group were rescued and were listed in stable condition, said Mark Latti, spokesman for the state Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife.

The dead were identified as Eric Johnson, 29, of Manchester, Conn., and Reno Caron, 49, of Enfield, Conn.

Shawn Judge, 29, of Atkinson, N.H., and Keith McNulty, 28, of Groveland, Mass., were being treated at Bridgton Hospital.

The accident happened shortly before 2 p.m. along the western shore of the lake near an area called the Frontier Camp.

Dave Comeau, a caretaker at the camp, heard the men screaming, got in a boat and was able to rescue one of them, Latti said.

Comeau's wife, Jolene, called 911, and Fryeburg Rescue arrived a short time later with an airboat.

The four men were transported to hospitals in Bridgton and North Conway, N.H., where Johnson and Caron were pronounced dead.

Latti said the four men were vacationing in the area and had rented their snowmobiles in Fryeburg, where they were staying. They had been snowmobiling in the Bethel area and were returning to Fryeburg when they went onto the lake.

The men were about 500 to 600 yards from shore at the widest section of the lake when their sleds broke through the water. There was only an inch and a half of slush-covered ice in that area, Latti said, and some parts of the lake had open water.

Salvage crews will return to the area Wednesday to try to recover the snowmobiles from the 100-foot-deep water.

The two fatalities raised the number of snowmobiling deaths in Maine this season to six, or two more than at this time last year.

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http://www.adn.com/alaska/story/2425409p-2474725c.html

OUT OF A JAM

January 7, 2003

CUTLINE: Overflow caused by an ice jam on the Tanana River continued to slosh down the Old Richardson Highway about 35 miles southeast of Fairbanks on Monday, stranding about 30 families in Salcha and filling the roadway with freezing water.

Temperatures were expected to fall to 40 below Monday night. Such cold could freeze the overflow, allowing highway crews to build an ice road into Salcha by Wednesday, highway officials said.

Rob Weathers and Dennis Price of Salcha Rescue used Price's airboat, above, Sunday to travel up the Old Richardson Highway and check on stranded residents. Bev Lucas, right, guides her dog MacKenzie off Price's airboat Sunday. Price crossed the flooded Pile Driver Slough to rescue the dog. Lucas and her family were evacuated Saturday but had to leave their dog behind.

Water began overflowing Piledriver Slough in late December after a warm fall delayed freezeup on the Tanana River, and some areas iced up earlier than others. An ice jam formed, and water began backing up. Story, B-3

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http://www.dailyherald.com/cook/main_story.asp?intID=3763115

Snowmobiler dies in freak accident on icy lake

By Lee Filas
Daily Herald Staff Writer
January 10, 2003

Fox Lake, IL - A 26-year-old Round Lake Beach man died early Thursday morning after falling through the ice on Pistakee Lake outside Fox Lake while snowmobiling. Fire authorities say Thomas J. Sieckowski, 26, of Round Lake Beach, hit the ice hard when entering the water, decapitating him. The accident occurred after Sieckowski left Famous Freddie's Roadhouse restaurant and bar in Fox Lake on his snowmobile just after 2 a.m. with a friend, said Lake County sheriff Lt. Gary Govekar.

The two were heading west across Pistakee at a high rate of speed when the ice gave way under Sieckowski's snowmobile, plunging him into the murky water, Govekar said. His companion, a 27-year-old Fox Lake man, didn't notice Sieckowski plunge into the water and kept driving across the semi-frozen lake to their destination of Cedar Point Island. The ice had been thawing recently, said Fox Lake fire officials, due to a week of above freezing temperatures. The Fox Lake man turned to look for Sieckowski after five minutes of riding across the frozen surface when he realized Sieckowski was missing."He went back to search but couldn't find (Sieckowski)," Govekar said. "After about an hour, he went back to shore and phoned 911.

"A Fox Lake fire crew was dispatched to the scene at 3:06 a.m. and was joined in the search by the Wonder Lake fire department with an airboat and a search light from the Flight For Life helicopter, Govekar said.

The snowmobile was located under 5 feet of water in Pistakee Lake at 4:25 a.m., Govekar added. "The ice was only 3 inches thick in that area and couldn't support the weight of the snowmobile," Govekar said. Sieckowski was pronounced dead at 4:30 a.m. at the scene by the Lake County coroner's office, Coroner Barbara Richardson said. The cause of death was listed as extreme traumatic head injury. Govekar added that alcohol may have played a part in the accident, but he won't know for sure until toxicology tests are conducted by the coroner's office. No citations have been issued in the accident.

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http://www.zwire.com/site/PollAnswer.cfm?brd=1134&pag=461&poll_id=11925&vote=yes

Chetek man drowns under Long Bridge
January 08, 2003

A 34-year-old Chetek man died in a snowmobile accident Friday, Jan. 3, at approximately 7:05 p.m.
Max Davis, 34, and Steven Baumann, 35, were travelling southeast on Prairie Lake on snowmobiles and crossed under the Long Bridge onto Chetek Lake.
Baumann, the rider in the lead, successfully passed under the bridge, drove for about 1,000 yards and turned to check on the progress of Davis. Baumann could not locate Davis and investigated under the bridge where he observed an area of open water and a snowmobile helmet floating.
Baumann travelled a short distance to his residence at 520 1st St. and called 9-1-1.
The Chetek Fire Department Ice Rescue Unit arrived on the scene, along with the Chetek Police Department and deputies from the Barron County Sheriff's Department.
Davis was recovered from 14 feet of water under the bridge, after being submerged for approximately 40 minutes. Chetek Fire District captain Joe Atwood said Davis' body was lying beside the snowmobile directly beneath the hole of open water. Davis' core body temperature was 96 degrees when he was pulled from the water, Atwood said.
Efforts by Chetek Emergency Medical Technicians and Lakeview Medical Center to revive Davis were unsuccessful.
Terry Nelson, deputy medical examiner, pronounced Davis dead at 8:38 p.m. and ruled the death a drowning.
The Chetek Fire Department ice rescue unit had several firemen in the water in a relatively short time after arriving on the scene, according to the DNR. They remarkably recovered the victim from the bottom of the lake without the use of divers. Atwood said a diving crew from Chippewa Falls had been called for assistance and was on its way, but was called back and told not to come when the body was recovered.
The accident is under investigation by Conservation Warden Russ Fell of the Department of Natural Resources.
Fell reminded residents that ice travel is never safe. This year is especially dangerous due to the lack of sub-zero temperatures. Throughout the county, several vehicles have fallen through the ice in recent weeks.
Atwood added that specifically on the Chetek lakes, any bridge areas will likely hold weak ice, especially after two days of temperatures in the 40s this week.
Other areas requiring cautious travel are near Luther Park Bible Camp on Prairie Lake, Lakeshore Resort between Ojaski and Pokegama Lakes, and several spots on Ten Mile Lake, Atwood stated.

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http://www.record-eagle.com/2003/jan/11deaths.htm

By PATRICK SULLIVAN
Record-Eagle staff writer
January 11, 2003

TRAVERSE CITY, MI - Two men are feared dead after they failed to return home from a snowmobile outing Thursday evening around Long Lake.
Grand Traverse County Sheriff deputies and a multi-agency dive team searched Friday for Traverse City residents David L. Swanson, 32, and Matthew R. Wyn, 36, in bitterly cold temperatures at the north end of Long Lake.
The investigation into their disappearance began when a Long Lake Township resident, Tony Buday, heard screams coming from the lake at around 9:30 p.m. Thursday.
When sheriff deputies and fire department rescuers arrived and a Coast Guard helicopter flew overhead, all the rescuers found were two snowmobile tracks headed across the ice and into open water.
Sheriff Scott Fewins said he received a call at around 1 a.m., alerting him to the disappearance of Swanson and Wyn. Their families were worried because it was uncharacteristic of the men not to come home, and one of them had an appointment in Grand Rapids on Friday morning that he would not have missed.
"These men are responsible family people who, according to the family, would never be late," Fewins said.
Fewins said the men probably entered the lake at Gilbert Park - where it is frozen - and headed south, later doubling back to the north end of the lake where the ice leads into open water.
Late Friday morning, with the men's family and friends looking on, a dive team searched for their bodies about 200 yards off shore. Fewins said that despite cold temperatures and a blistering breeze, the divers could safely dive, although each of the 10 divers could make at most two dives each.
The divers needed to be tethered to officers in a boat in case they floated under the ice, he said.
"It is going to be a very difficult recovery," Fewins said.
He also said the initial investigation was difficult. Both Swanson and Wyn were married and between them they had seven children who were younger than 7 years old.
Buday, who reported to police hearing cries of distress coming from the lake, said he had not heard such horrific screams since he served in the Korean War.
"My heart really goes out to the wives and the children," Buday said.
Buday, who had gone outside to attend to a wood-burning furnace, said when he heard the screams he got his wife to come outside and listen to confirm what he was hearing. She did and he called police.
Buday said the screams eventually subsided.
"I listened to them scream from the top of their lungs to where they were crying," he said. "I was in the Korean War, and I haven't heard anything like that since then."
Buday said he hopes to begin a drive to purchase a hovercraft for Grand Traverse County to expedite rescues and to make searching for bodies in icy water safer.
The lake in front of Buday's house is all open water and he said he doesn't understand why someone would have chanced taking a snowmobile near it.
"It surprised me," Buday said. "These people being local people, they should have known better. But we're all human."

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http://www.wbay.com/global/story.asp?s=1079787&ClientType=Printable

Venture on Thin Ice and Pay a Price

WBAY
By Jerry Burke

January 11, 03
Lake Winnebago, WI -- Getting rescued on Lake Winnebago will be a problem for the rest of the winter. It may become expensive, too.
Winnebago County's two rescue hovercraft were both heavily damaged during a rescue effort two weeks ago. Members of the county board are upset over that, not just because of the damage but because a couple firefighters came close to losing their own lives.
That has the county board thinking about imposing costs for rescues on the lake.
They got the engines on the hovercraft in Oshkosh started Friday morning. It was the first time those engines worked since that ill-fated rescue. The hoverboat was damaged and had to be abandoned, left partially submerged in the Lake Winnebago ice for nearly a week.
The mechanic says the engines were in rough shape. "Probably a little worse than I thought. I had to take all the fluid out of the engines. Most of it was water," said Paul Zellmer, who works for the Oshkosh Fire department.
Zellmer said the rest of the boat is so badly damaged it will have to be sent back to the factory and completely rebuilt. As a result, it will be out of service for the rest of the winter.
The fire chief is completely in favor of charging for ice rescues. "It's not a hazard that the general public has imposed on them. It's like everybody has the possibility of a fire, vehicle accident, things like that. This is a specific hazard because people are making a conscious decision to go out in these conditions," Chief Tim Franz said.
Chief Franz said if people know they face a hefty bill if they need to get rescued, maybe they'll think twice about going out on the ice when it is well-known that ice conditions aren't good.

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http://www.boston.com/dailynews/008/region/Farmer_officially_declared_mis P.shtml

Farmer officially declared missing after draining of pond turns up empty

By Associated Press
1/8/2003

BRIDGEWATER, Mass. (AP) Searchers drained a retention pond on Wednesday, but found no trace of a missing farmer who was last seen over the weekend tending his livestock. John Zaro, 55, was last seen Sunday at his large farm on Plain Street, police said. It was believed that he might have drowned in the pond while trying to rescue a cow that wandered on to the ice. Search teams from the Bridgewater Fire Department and state police dive teams drained the pond down to one foot of water but found no sign of Zaro or the missing cow, said Chief Roderick Walsh, of the Bridgewater Fire Department. ''We found nothing, unfortunately. We wanted to put some closure to it,'' Walsh said. Divers searched Tuesday night and resumed again Wednesday at 8 a.m. The search was called off at 1:50 p.m. on Wednesday. Zaro has been officially declared a missing person, Walsh said. Two divers were treated for hypothermia at a local hospital. A third was treated at a Boston hospital for a fractured hand, Walsh said. All three have been released. Since Zaro vanished, police with dogs have searched Zaro's property and the perimeter of the farm, but found nothing, Walsh said. Interviews with family friends and neighbors and a check with local medical facilities turned up no information about Zaro's whereabouts, and police said they found nothing suspicious at the farm. Zaro, a former chemical engineer, has operated the 160-acre farm since the 1970s. Zaro was described as 5-foot-5 and about 120 pounds, with dark hair and long sideburns. Police said they did not know what clothing he was wearing when last seen. Anyone with information was asked to call the Bridgewater Police Department at 508-697-6118.

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http://www.forestlaketimes.com/2003/January/15FLrape.html

Lake ice update

January 15, 2003
Forest Lake, MN - Police in Forest Lake have received numerous reports in the past week of ice houses sinking on Forest, Clear and Sylvan lakes. No ban on ice use has been issued for lakes in northern Washington County, but Anoka County authorities have addressed safety issues on a number of lakes in northern and eastern parts of Anoka County.
According to the Anoka County Sheriff’s Office, the county on Jan. 10 declared Coon and Linwood lakes unsafe for any vehicular traffic, including snowmobiles and all-terrain vehicles.In addition, Crooked, Ham, George and Martin lakes were declared unsafe for cars and trucks but use of ATVs and snowmobiles is permissible.On Forest Lake, Schwartz urged lake users to take extreme caution on the ice. He said a large section of open water on First Lake was being kept open by strong winds and should be avoided by anyone using the ice surface.Washington County Sheriff’s Office personnel on Jan. 9, with the help of the Forest Lake Fire & Rescue airboat, marked dangerous ice areas on the lake.

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http://www.record-eagle.com/2003/jan/14search.htm

January 14, 2003

Search to resume for missing snowmobiler

High winds suspended separate search in Houghton Lake for two missing brothers

TRAVERSE CITY - The Grand Traverse County Sheriff's Department and a multi-agency dive team plan to resume their search today for a man missing since Thursday after he drove his snowmobile into Long Lake.
Sheriff Scott Fewins said that the search will be aided by an airboat on loan from Huron County that should be able to transport divers from the ice to an area in open water where police want to search.
Police are searching for the body of David Swanson, 32, whose snowmobile apparently went off the ice and into the water Thursday.
On Saturday, divers recovered the body of Matthew R. Wyn, 36, of Traverse City, who was riding with Swanson.
Earlier that day divers recovered the body of a third snowmobiler, Martin R. Selby, who fell through the ice on his snowmobile and drowned Saturday in a separate incident on Long Lake.
Because of cold temperatures, a blistering wind and a lake that continues to freeze as the search continues, efforts to locate the bodies have been grueling.
"All those guys out there have been doing a tremendous job out there, dealing with the cold and the wind," Capt. Tom Emerson said.
Fewins said that if Swanson's body is not recovered by Friday, the department has arranged to use a robotic underwater search craft from the University of Michigan. Fewins said that the craft, which is equipped with cameras and an arm that could bring a body from the water, can be used even if the lake freezes over entirely.
The Long Lake deaths were among a rash of snowmobile- and ice-related incidents over the weekend.
William J. Minch, 41, of Conklin was killed when his snowmobile collided with a tree at about 11:40 a.m. Sunday in Grand Traverse County's Union Township.
In Roscommon County's Houghton Lake, state police divers suspended their search Monday for two Houghton Lake brothers, ages 24 and 27, who fell through thin ice while snowmobiling Sunday. The search was suspended because of high winds, police said.
Police said three snowmobilers had been traveling across the lake Sunday night when they came upon thin ice, then open water. One of the snowmobilers was able to accelerate across the open water to shore.
Police did not identify the two brothers.
Elsewhere on Houghton Lake, five snowmobilers went through the ice near the northeast corner of the lake around 6:40 p.m. A sixth snowmobiler was able to stop in time and helped his companions back on the ice.
In Cheboygan, a 38-year-old man was ticketed for careless driving after his vehicle fell though thin ice Sunday on Mullett Lake.
Robert Allen Jewell, 38, of Cheboygan, was driving across the north end of Mullett Lake about 400 yards off shore about 4 p.m. Sunday when his vehicle broke through about four inches of ice, said Cheboygan County Sheriff Dale Clarmont. The vehicle was in about five feet of water.
In Oceana County's Shelby Township, 17-year-old Dennis A. Bantien of Shelby was killed when his snowmobile bumped another and crashed into a telephone pole Sunday.
In Gladwin County's Billings Township, 47-year-old Randy Hair of Hope was killed Saturday when his snowmobile struck a dock on the frozen Tittabawassee River.

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http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=6709505&BRD=2053&PAG=461&dept_id=382906&rfi=6

Search for 2 snowmobilers continues

By Thomas Reznich
January 15, 2003

Houghton Lake, MI - Unique weather activity over the last week has left area lakes with extremely dangerous ice conditions, including a massive patch of open water on Houghton Lake which extends for miles.
Since Saturday, seven snowmobiles have gone into the open water, including two driven by brothers David Wayne Sperry, 24, of Grayling and Jody Earl Sperry, 27, of Houghton Lake, who remain missing and are presumed to be dead after hitting the water on the night of Jan. 12.
Rescue workers from Roscommon, Lake and Lyon Townships, the State Police, Roscommon County Sheriff Department, Department of Natural Resources and US Coast Guard worked through the night to locate the missing men to no avail.
Attempts to locate the bodies of the missing snowmobilers and their sleds continued Wednesday by personnel from the Michigan State Police Underwater Recovery Unit and the Roscommon County Sheriff Department Dive Team.
Roscommon County Sheriff Fran Staley said that Dallas Carll, 27, of Houghton Lake was on a third snowmobile and was riding ahead of the Sperrys when they hit the water. Carll told police he accelerated when he felt the back end of his machine sinking and made it onto solid ice. When he realized his friends were in the water he rode to shore and called in the emergency.
Staley said Carll told him that the three riders were aware of the open water but had gotten off course in blowing snow conditions which cut down visibility. The area where the men were lost is around eight feet deep, with a water temperature around 35 degrees.

Five other snowmobiles went into the water on the night of Jan. 11, farther to the west where the depth was around five feet, and all were able to make it out of the water.

With conditions worsening as winds continue, Staley said he is weighing his options as to where to station emergency equipment, including the department’s airboat, to best advantage. Firefighters from Roscommon, Lake and Denton Townships will man their stations from Friday evening to Sunday evening in case of further emergencies during the first weekend of Tip-up Town 2003.

State Police 1st Lt. David Mertz said equipment including the department’s hovercraft, a boat and survival suits are at the ready. He said that anyone who ventures out on the ice of any of the lakes in the area should exercise extreme caution, since there is no area that can be considered safe.

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http://www.kcchronicle.com/today/KCC/news/283669452605165.html

Elburn hosts ice rescue drill


By DAN CHANZIT
Kane County Chronicle

January 17, 2003
ELBURN — With temperatures hovering near freezing for much of January, most detention ponds and creeks in the region have a healthy sheet on top.
Or do they?
"With a lot of those retention ponds, you've never know if the ice is nice." fire chief Kelly Callahan said.
"Even though it looks good, at certain times it can actually be worse," Capt. Alan Isberg said.
That has prompted rescue workers to host an ice rescue drill Saturday. The Elburn and Countryside Fire District has conducted similar drills twice since 1992.
The drill will be at 10 a.m. at the pond at Third and Willow streets. Before the drill, rescue workers will attend a class at 8 a.m.
Village administrator said barricades will be posted to keep curious residents away.
Workers will test new lifesaving tools. Some will wear special suits to protect them from the cold and keep them dry.
The district has four suits, but none have been used in an ice rescue. In the floods of 1996, rescue workers used the suits to keep them dry.
Callahan said the suits will get a workout on Saturday. Some will dive into the icy water to retrieve a practice victim.
"We'll have the instructor be a simulated victim," Callahan said. "Then we will get in the water, too."
Officials said a few problems have cropped up in the region with people falling through the ice.
Last year, a woman's dog fell through on a pond outside Elburn. Officials said the woman saved the dog before rescue workers arrived.
"That is very much not recommended," Callahan said.
Two years ago, a Geneva couple's dog died after falling through the ice at Fisher Farms, Geneva officials said.
Twenty years ago, a 12-year-old boy and his dog were playing on ice near Fabyan Forest Preserve in Geneva.
"The boy went out to get the dog off the ice, and the piece broke away. They were unable to get back," recalled Geneva Fire Chief Steve Olson. "We ended up going out there with a boat. He was one cold little kid."
Olson urged residents to stay away from the Fox River and use park district ponds instead.
"No matter how secure the ice appears, threat it as though it is not," Olson said. "There is nothing to describe what it feels like when you get hypothermia. It slows everything down. You can't do anything to rescue yourself."

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http://www.pottstownmercury.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=6700646&BRD=1674&PAG=461&dept_id=18041&rfi=6

Rescue work concludes on a light note

Kristin Smith
The Mercury

January 15, 2003

MONT CLARE, PA -- What began as a rescue effort in the turbulent waters of the Schuylkill River Saturday afternoon ended in relief as dive teams pulled an orange beach ball that was lodged under an abandoned boat out of the river.
Mont Clare Deputy Fire Chief Charles Palmer said his team was dispatched to rescue what appeared to be a floating body.

"We got called out for a possible water rescue. There was a boat in the water, and someone said they saw the boat bobbing up and down with something orange, like a life vest," said Palmer.

"When we got down there, we put three boats in the water and went up to the dam to check it out. It turns out it was a boat with nobody around it and the orange thing that looked like a life vest was a beach ball."

The search took approximately one to two hours, and the teams were not able to bring the boat to shore because of the heavy turbulence, according to Palmer. The Fish and Game Commission have determined the boat came down loose from the Black Rock boat launch.

The rescue effort follows the Thanksgiving Day drowning that turned into a grueling week long recovery effort for local dive teams. Mario Scamuffa, 36, of Coatesville, lost his footing on ice while walking on a cement retaining wall and fell into the frigid waters.

Earlier in the year, rescuers also searched the same area in a five-day recovery effort of the body of Roseanne Corey of Quakertown.

Also responding to Saturday’s effort were Phoenixville and Spring-Ford Dive Rescue Teams.

Corey, 37, was boating with her boyfriend in May when her dog jumped over the side of the boat and Corey drowned in an attempt to rescue the animal.

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http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?BRD=2164&dept_id=401088&newsid=6674634&PAG=461&rfi=9

Rescue workers hold winter training exercises on Cass Lake

By: Sarah Balstad, Staff Writer
January 12, 2003

CASS LAKE, MN - With a temperature of zero and winds blowing across frozen Cass Lake, holes cut in the ice allowed rescue workers to jump into the freezing water.
Emergency workers, including police, sheriff and fire departments from all over Minnesota, gathered on Cass Lake Saturday for rescue training organized by the Cass County Sheriff's Department and Cass Lake Fire Department.
The day was intended to give workers training and practice with ice rescue, skills especially necessary this year with such unstable ice conditions.
"This is reality. It's 5 below and there's 20 inches of ice. We've had some trouble getting some of the machines going because of the weather, but that's reality. Accidents don't only happen on nice days," said Sgt. Tim Berglund of the Cass County Sheriff Department.
Berglund is also coordinator of the boat and water program in Cass County.
"We're here to share knowledge and work with the equipment in the event that we need it so we'll be prepared," Berglund said, "and help is only a phone call away."
"It's a multiple agency exercise practice to get to know each other and about the equipment," said Dan Bibeau of the Itasca County Dive Team.
By bringing different departments together from around the area, more resources are available in the event of an emergency. And resources aren't limited to manpower, they include machine power as well, like that of Bemidji Fire Department's hovercraft, Cohasset Fire Department's ice angel (airboat) and the JTW Associates nebulous device.
The Bemidji Fire Department's hovercraft was donated by the Neilson Foundation and has already been used to save four lives. The vehicle can travel on a pocket of air over ice, land and water and is larger than other models for the purpose of rescue, according to Bemidji firefighter Mike Yavarow.
The Cohasset Fire Department's ice angel (airboat) is similar to boats often seen in areas like the Everglades with a few exceptions. The ice angel (airboat) is equipped with a boom winch for lifting objects out of the water. The vehicle can travel on water, snow and ice, and has a special coating on its pontoons to avoid ice buildup.
"It's really used quite frequently," said Denny Lemler of the Cohasset Fire Department.
The JTW Associates nebulous device is an inflatable attachment for snowmobiles and all-terrain vehicles. A prototype of the search and rescue model was exhibited at the event and is intended to float the driver, the machine, and a victim.

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Sheriff weighs safety, search

January 18, 2003

By PATRICK SULLIVAN
Record-Eagle staff writer

TRAVERSE CITY, MI - Since two snowmobilers plunged into Long Lake nine days ago, Sheriff Scott Fewins has had a lot to think about.
He comforted the families of the two men, who desperately wanted the bodies of their loved ones recovered.
He fretted over the safety of the divers who performed the exhausting work of methodically searching the lake bed. He made sure their zeal to complete the assignment did not put them at risk.
And he considered the mounting cost of the operation, which quickly consumed the department's annual budget for recovery operations, despite generous donations of resources from other police departments and even offers from department members to work free.
As a cold front moved into northern Michigan throughout the week and the gaping hole of open water on the north end of Long Lake closed, however, nature made the call for him - the search had to be suspended, at least until the ice becomes solid.
"Mother Nature has froze us out of the lake," Fewins said Friday in a frustrated voice.
The search has been suspended since Wednesday, when the open water on the north end of Long Lake disappeared. In the last dives, an airboat was used to chop holes in the ice and the divers jumped into the lake, shoving aside great chunks of ice.
The search is scheduled to resume Tuesday, as long as the lake is safely frozen solid. Fewins arranged to use a Michigan State Police orbital sonar, which will scan the lake's bottom in 40-foot sections, entering the lake through holes in the ice 10 inches wide.
The divers have recovered one body, that of 36-year-old Matthew Wyn of Traverse City. They located the snowmobiles about 50 yards away from each other in about 60 feet of water, in the area where on Jan. 10 rescuers discovered two snowmobile tracks leading into the lake.
Thirty-two-year-old David Swanson still is missing.
Under Michigan's Constitution, a sheriff is required to recover bodies from water in their jurisdiction, but the law does not specify how long a sheriff must search or under what circumstances a search should be called off.
A sheriff is just required "to use every available means in the recovery of any such body," according to the law.
So a search becomes a balancing act of different concerns - for the families involved, for the expense of the operation and for the safety of the divers.
"We don't want to have them have to wait all winter long to possibly have a recovery, so they can go through the funeral and the memorial services three months from now," Fewins said. "That's part of it, but I also have to be concerned about safety; safety's No. 1."
Fewins said he also has considered the cost of the operation, but he has put it to the back of his mind.
"Lately I've had people ask, 'You know, what is this costing?' And it's true, there is a cost figure associated with it," he said.
A further complication is that there have been two other body recovery searches in the state over the past week, one in the Upper Peninsula and the other at Houghton Lake. That has complicated efforts to get equipment that is shared across the state.
The family of Matthew Wyn, who was recovered a week ago, praised Fewins for his performance under such tough circumstances.
Wyn's brother, Tod Wyn, said Fewins was good at communicating with the family and friends of Wyn and Swanson from the beginning.
"Scott Fewins was very compassionate, very caring and was very, very interested in getting their bodies," he said.
Wyn's mother, Sharon Wyn, also praised Fewins and the divers.
"They were just magnificent heroes, and we cannot believe all they did and all they endured and the conditions that they had to do it in," she said.
Fewins remains hopeful that the sonar will locate Swanson and he will be able to end the operation in success. He and the dive team have carefully studied the area of the lake and have an area the size of between one and two football fields to search.
"The only thing that will stop us is if the conditions change and the lake wants to open up again," he said. "What we're going to try to accomplish I think is doable."
But the decision to call off the sonar search will ultimately be up to the state police, he said. Should it come to that, he said he does not know if there will be a "plan C."

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http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/news/cumberland/011803ICE2.html

January 18, 2003
Frozen ponds a deadly lure

By LUIS PUGA Staff Writer

It can be tempting to venture out onto the ice.

As temperatures drop and winds bring shivering cold, it may be hard to believe that the ice isn't thick enough.

Take today, where the National Weather Service at Mount Holly is predicting a continuation of the cold snap with highs in the mid-20s. At night, those highs will drop into the teens. That much cold equals frozen water, right?

But experts say no matter how cold it gets, it's best to stay off the ice unless its been measured for thickness by authorities.

"We go by the old adage that no ice is safe ice," said Chief Cliff Higbee, Cumberland County's Marine Coordinator and head of the Fortescue Dive Team.

Higbee's perspective is unique as the Fortescue Fire Department is one of the few that has divers trained to rescue people who fall through the ice. His team knows the dangers of thin ice and trains other fire departments in Cumberland, Gloucester, Atlantic and Cape May counties on how to perform an ice rescue even without diving equipment. His advice to would-be skaters, hockey players or just the curious: stay off the ice.

"They definitely should not (venture onto a frozen body of water) unless it is a designated area," Higbee said. Local authorities check such areas like Millville's Corsin Park or Burnt Mill Pond in Vineland daily. A colored flag tells would-be skaters whether the ice is safe. Green means go and red means stay off.

Still, Higbee said ice is just a magnet for people who think what looks solid on the surface will support their weight.

"It's more curiosity seekers than anything," he said. "The biggest problem is kids walking out on the ice. They're walking home and they see the local pond is frozen over and they go out."

Or, it's the pets.

"We had more problems with animals than humans," said Higbee, who said in that case, a rescue is up to the local department. "These days, people pretty much value their pets as if they were kids."

And, with any call for a rescue, rescue personnel are trained to expect more than one person has fallen in.

"It's just human nature," said Higbee. "It's more than likely that someone will try to help (the person who has fallen in). But, all the good intentions can't help you out of the ice. The classic example was in Gloucester County. They rescued two girls who then remembered the guy who tried to help them. He was under the ice."

So if you do fall in, what should you do?

Higbee said you should stay calm and try to lean forward back onto the ice if possible. He said if you get back up on the ice, roll onto it and crawl back to solid ground. Never stand up or walk. If you can't get back up on the ice, yell for help.

As for good Samaritans, Higbee said, "We don't ever recommend venturing out onto the ice to help someone."

Instead, tree branches may be a good way to reach out to someone. Higbee said that sort of extended arm is what firefighters without diving or other specialized equipment are trained to do with ladders or rope. Rarely are they advised to go out on the ice unless they have an exposure or "Gumby" suit, which allows them to endure a cold plunge.

While there have been some cases where people have survived in frigid water for hours, Higbee said that even with trained rescuers, you still shouldn't go out on the ice.

After all, by the time a passer-by sees you, finds a phone and calls for help, it could be 10 or 20 minutes after you've fallen in.

And the most dangerous situation is when a person falls in under the ice, where survival decreases sharply.

"In the past 10 years, we've pulled out 20 bodies from under the ice and we've never been able to revive any of them," he said.

In Vineland, John Polaha, superintendent of recreation, said city crews check on Burnt Mill Pond and Ellis Pond at Giampetro Park three times a day after they freeze over. Neither is frozen now, despite the chilly weather, and Polaha said it's been 10 years since Ellis Pond froze over.

"There's always the Vineland Skating Rink" he said, noting the indoor recreation facility. And while you may fall there, at least it will be on solid footing.

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http://www.nbc4.com/print/1918097/detail.html?use=print

Father, Son Rescued From Potomac
Boat Gets Stuck In Ice

January 18, 2003

DARNESTOWN, Md. -- A father and son found out first hand just how cold the Potomac was Saturday morning after their boat became icebound near Riley's Locke on the C&O Canal.
Montgomery County Fire and Rescue spokesman Oscar Garcia said the two had gone out for a little duck hunting when their boat became trapped by patches of floating ice just after noon.
The River Rescue Strike Team was called in and was able to break through the ice to get to the stranded vessel. It was towed back to shore.
Garcia says no one was hurt, just a little cold.

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http://www.nbc4.com/print/1920819/detail.html?use=print
nbc4.com

Rescuers Train For Ice Emergencies

Two Men Rescued From C&O Canal This Weekend

POSTED: 6:11 p.m. EST January 20, 2003

POTOMAC, Md. -- A rescue this weekend on the C&O Canal highlighted the importance of ice safety on the area's frozen waterways.

A father and son were trapped on the canal when ice surrounded their boat and refroze. The men tried to use their cell phone but it didn't work.
Finally, a park police helicopter spotted them and called for help. Rescue crews had to smash through the ice with another boat to reach the men.
Rescuers Conduct Practice Drill


On a frozen pond in Potomac Monday, fire rescue divers braved the elements with a rescue drill. One man dressed in a wet suit plunged into the icy water.
Rescuers slid along the ice to reach the man.

Experts said it is important for anyone trapped in icy water to conserve energy. Victims should hold their position and call for help.
Rescuers also said anyone on dry land should not try to rescue the trapped person. Instead, witnesses should call for help immediately.

Crews said people who try to save the trapped person often cause more problems by shattering the ice the stranded person is using to float.
However, a long branch or a flotation device can be used to help the stranded person stay above water.
Paramedics said everyone should also remember that looks can be deceiving. If ice is a foot thick in one area of a lake or pond, it can be one inch thick just a few yards away.

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http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=6752154&BRD=988&PAG=461&dept_id=141265&rfi=6

Mystery man rescues ice fisherman on Lake St. Clair

By Mitch Hotts, Macomb Daily Staff Writer
January 20, 2003

The frozen sections of Lake St. Clair were busy Sunday with recreational vehicles and fishermen. Authorities said ice covering most of the lake is strong enough to walk on.

Lake St. Clair --Local anglers credit a "mystery" man with putting his life on the line to help save an ice fisherman who fell through the ice and into the frigid waters of Lake St. Clair on Sunday afternoon.

Michael Goode, 49, of Warren, was rescued from the lake in Harrison Township by a team of about 30 fishermen after he attempted to retrieve a shanty.

He was held overnight at Mount Clemens General Hospital for treatment of hypothermia, but was thankful to be alive, relatives said.

"He told me that if it wasn't for the fellow who helped him, he would be dead," said Sandy Goode, the victim's wife.

Authorities don't know the name of the rescuer, who left after emerging soaking wet from the lake, although some witnesses said he was a Marine City resident.

The incident happened about 2 p.m. at the Michigan Department of Natural Resources site at the end of Rosso Highway at Jefferson. Temperatures were in the upper teens, but near or below zero with the wind speeds factored in, officials said.

Goode was fishing about three-quarters of a mile from shore when the wind blew his shanty near an area of open water and into the lake.

Goode used a snowmobile to catch up with the shanty, but the ice broke as he approached and he fell into the freezing water, which was about 6 feet deep.

"You could barely see his head out there," said Richard Spears of Warren, another ice fisherman.

Other anglers saw the commotion and organized a small rescue party, carefully walking as close as they could on the ice to Goode, with a rope to haul him in.

Donald Wonsowicz, a grants officer with Wayne State University, said he heard Goode screaming "at the top of his lungs" to call for help.

At one point, the mystery man jumped into the water and looped a rope around Goode, which the crowd used to pull Goode in to stronger ice and then to an awaiting ambulance.

"This guy was truly amazing," Wonsowicz said. "I wish I knew his name. I didn't think the guy (Goode) in the water was going to make it, but this young guy went right out there and got him."

Harrison Township fire crews arrived at the scene just as Goode was removed from the water and helped warm the victim before taking him to the hospital.

Dr. Glenn Delong at Mount Clemens General Hospital said Goode was in stable condition Sunday evening and was being held overnight for observation.

Capt. Carl Seitz of the Harrison Township Fire Department said the ice thickness varies on Lake St. Clair. He urged flotation devices be worn by anglers near open water.

Goode, who has two children and two grandchildren, is a humble man who was happy to have come out of the water with his cell phone and glasses on, relatives said.

He works at the Continental Trailer Park in Warren, where rap star Eminem filmed portions of the "8 Mile" movie last year.

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http://www.jsonline.com/news/ozwash/jan03/112465.asp

Snowmobiler missing in lake
Friend rescued from icy waters of Big Cedar by 3 who heard cries

By LAURIA LYNCH-GERMAN
Jan. 21, 2003
Town of West Bend, WI - One man was missing in Big Cedar Lake late Tuesday after he and another man rode a snowmobile into a patch of open water, Washington County Sheriff Jack Theusch said.
A teenager on his way to church helped rescue one of the men from the icy waters.
Both snowmobilers, who were riding on a single sled, were believed to be in their 20s, Theusch said. Searchers from the Washington County Sheriff's Department and West Bend Fire Department were still looking for the missing snowmobiler as of 10 p.m., said Theusch, who added that he had asked the Waukesha County Dive Rescue Team to assist.
Torey Bringa, 17, heard cries for help about 7:30 p.m. as he walked out of his home on W. Lake Drive. "I was going to my car to go to church, and I thought I heard something," Bringa said. "It sounded like 'help' or 'call,' but it sounded pretty faint."
Bringa said he went across W. Lake Drive, got in the car and closed the door. Then he thought again.
"I opened the car door and heard it again," Bringa said. "I walked down toward the front of my house, and then I could really hear it. I could hear someone yelling for help."
Bringa said he ran into his home, grabbed some rope and a flashlight and headed onto the ice, following the cries. As he approached the open water, he met two other people who had heard the same pleas for help - and encountered a man struggling to stay afloat.
"We threw in the rope, and the three of us pulled him onto the ice," Bringa said. "(The man) told us he had been hanging on to his friend's shoulders before we got there. He said he was pulling him down."
Bringa, who was home alone at the time, said he didn't think twice about venturing onto the ice.
"Even if I thought it was a joke, there was no harm in just checking," he said. "I'm glad I took that second chance to listen again."
Theusch said initial interviews with witnesses indicated people were helping soon after the sled went in the lake. The man who was pulled from the water was very cold and was treated by the West Bend Fire Department at the scene, Theusch said.

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http://www.hometownannapolis.com/cgi-bin/read/live/01_21-34/TOP

Two teens plunge through the ice

By BRIAN HAYNES, Staff Writer

January 21, 2003
Annapaolis, MD - When Leif Anderson's 13-year-old daughter saw a teen walking on the ice behind her Pasadena home yesterday afternoon, she saw fun.But Mr. Anderson saw danger.

Moments later he was rushing to a nearby pier with an extension cord in hand to save the teen, who had fallen through the ice into the chilly waters of ****ey Creek.

"I just knew he was in big trouble," Mr. Anderson said.

Two throws and about 10 minutes later, 14-year-old Brian Hart was safely inside the Anderson home, wearing a blanket and a dry set of clothes and getting an earful from Mr. Anderson's wife, he said.

"I would think he learned his lesson," Mr. Anderson said.

Brian told the Andersons that he understood the danger before county firefighters drove him to North Arundel Hospital for precautionary treatment.

But his fall and another one about an hour earlier have public safety officials warning people of all ages that there's no reason to learn Brian's lesson the hard way.

"Right now I wouldn't trust anything, anywhere," Annapolis Fire Department Battalion Chief Michael Lonergan said of the ice covering many of the county's creeks and rivers.

Even later in the season, it's best to avoid walking on the ice altogether because local water conditions make for very inconsistent ice thicknesses, he said. So while it might appear thick enough in one spot, the ice could be dangerously thin just a few feet away.

"It's too risky," he said.

Another county teen found out for himself how dangerous the ice can be.

Joshua Sullivan, 14, fell through the ice about 1:30 p.m. outside his home overlooking Marley Creek, said Division Chief John Scholz, a county Fire Department spokesman.

Firefighters rushed to the scene, but by the time they arrived Joshua had pulled himself from the chest-deep water and started a hot bath in his family's apartment nearby.

Like Brian, he too was taken to North Arundel Hospital for treatment.

A similar incident occurred in Ocean City Sunday, but one of the two children playing on thin ice at a park there didn't survive.

Eight-year-old Sam Wilkinson died Sunday night after he fell through the ice on a partially frozen lake and was submerged about an hour.

Nicholas McLoota, 10, also fell into the frigid water. He was rescued about 3 minutes later, then treated and released from the University of Maryland Hospital for Children in Baltimore at 3 p.m., spokesman Alexandra Bessent said.

The boys were chasing a ball across the ice on a man-made lake at Northside Park at about 5:30 p.m. when they fell through, said Ocean City police Sgt. Regina Custer.

Each winter fire departments respond to many similar calls, and with early-season temperatures as low as they've been in years, officials expect to see more incidents like yesterday's.

If that happens rescuers should take many of the same precautions that Mr. Anderson did.

After calling for professional help, the most important rule is to avoid going onto the ice because if it couldn't hold the first person, it almost certainly can't hold a second, Chief Scholz said.

"Do not walk onto the ice to get somebody because you'll become a victim yourself," he said.

Rescuers should try throwing a line, a rope, a floating ring (even an extension cord) to the victim and pull him to safety.

If, as a last resort, going onto the ice is necessary, use a ladder, an inflatable raft or some other device to spread your weight over the ice.

Mr. Anderson had never rescued anyone before, but he knew enough to make his first attempt a success. And while he used to skate on frozen ponds and creeks in his childhood, Mr. Anderson always saw the danger in it.

"I'd rather go to the ice rink," he said.

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Men identified in snowmobile accident on Big Cedar Lake

By LAURIA LYNCH-GERMAN

Jan. 22, 2003

Town of West Bend - An investigation continued Wednesday into what caused two men to plunge into the frigid waters of Big Cedar Lake while snowmobiling in the early evening Tuesday, killing one of the men.
Michael J. Mann, 21, of the Town of Trenton, was pulled from the open water about 50 yards northwest of the largest island in Big Cedar Lake just before midnight Tuesday.
He was taken by Flight for Life to Froedtert Memorial Lutheran Hospital and declared dead at the hospital.
Craig Davidson, 30, also of Trenton, was rescued about 7:35 p.m. when a teenager on his way to church heard cries for help and dashed to the lake with rope and a flashlight. He met up with two others and using the line, the three pulled Davidson to safety.
Both Davidson and Mann were riding on a single sled, Washington County Sheriff Jack Theusch said. Reports do not indicate who was driving the snowmobile at the time.
Theusch said Wednesday that it had not been determined if alcohol was a factor in the accident.
Members of the Washington County Sheriff's Department and the West Bend Fire Department arrived at the scene, leaving a trail of flares to mark a path on good ice so crews could travel safely. Members of the Waukesha County Dive Rescue Team were called to recover the body.
About 20 people gathered at the Big Cedar Lake Rehabilitation and Protection District building to await the outcome of the search.
Torey Bringa, 17, heard cries for help about 7:30 p.m. as he walked out of his home on W. Lake Drive. "I was going to my car to go to church, and I thought I heard something," Bringa said. "It sounded like 'help' or 'call,' but it sounded pretty faint."
Bringa said he got in the car and closed the door. Then he thought again.
"I opened the car door and heard it again," Bringa said. "I walked down toward the front of my house, and then I could really hear it. I could hear someone yelling for help."
Bringa said he ran into his home, grabbed some rope and a flashlight and headed onto the ice, following the cries. As he approached the open water, he met two other people who had heard the same pleas for help - and encountered a man struggling to stay afloat.
"We threw in the rope, and the three of us pulled him onto the ice," Bringa said. "(The man) told us he had been hanging on to his friend's shoulders before we got there. He said he was pulling him down."
Bringa, who was home alone at the time, said he didn't think twice about venturing onto the ice.
"Even if I thought it was a joke, there was no harm in just checking," he said. "I'm glad I took that second chance to listen again."
Theusch said initial interviews with witnesses indicated people were helping soon after the sled went in the lake. The man who was pulled from the water was very cold and was treated by the West Bend Fire Department at the scene, Theusch said.
Theusch called Bringa and the two other rescuers heroic.
"They didn't necessarily know where the bad ice is, and yet they went out there," he said.
The area on the lake where the snowmobilers went in has been a popular spot for ice fishing most years but has been free of ice for most of this winter.

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http://www.zwire.com/site/blocks/opinion/opinion.cfm

Wednesday 22 January, 2003

Loudoun Times-Mirror

Middleburg, Va - Sterling Rescue Squad paramedic Chris Simon and Sterling Fire Department firefighter Steve Gingras worked for more than 45 minutes Saturday afternoon to break through the ice at the Algonkian Regional Park boat ramp. They were trying to help Maryland authorities rescue two fishermen trapped in a boat on the ice. Shortly after the Sterling rescue workers broke though the ice, Maryland rescuers reached the fishermen from the other side of the river.

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http://images.trafficmp.com/tmpad/content/expedia/expedia16.html

Crazy night on Houghton Lake

Houghton Lake Resorter
By Thomas Reznich

January 23, 2003
Houghton, Lake, MI - “I can’t for the life of me understand why anyone would be out there tonight.” That is the first thing Roscommon County Sheriff Fran Staley said when I found him on Long Point Saturday night.
Scanner traffic had alerted the Resorter that rescue personnel were searching the large stretch of open water that runs along the southern edge of Long Point to the West Shore of Houghton Lake after receiving reports of someone yelling for help and another of witnesses who thought they saw snowmobile lights disappear into the hole.
A trip around the lake revealed what struck me as an almost surrealistic scene with groups of snowmobiles going by, some at high rates of speed, rescue equipment, including two Argos and a hovercraft stuck out on the ice, a Coast Guard helicopter and the Sheriff Department airboat conducting searches, all under a full moon.
Then as I looked out across to the emergency lights on Long Point, fireworks, big ones, began to go off from somewhere just behind the road end the rescue workers were parked at.

Thankfully, the reports of snowmobilers in the open water turned out to be unfounded, as did an impromptu fire alarm on the West Shore, and all of the rescue workers made it off the ice in good condition. Unfortunately, the film I shot during these goings on did not survive the full moon.

By all current predictions, the open water that spurred concern last Saturday will still be there for the second weekend of Tip-up Town 2003. Local officials and rescue personnel are praying that caution will keep tragedy at bay once again.

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http://www.startribune.com/stories/568/3606529.html

Snowmobiler dies in Washington County lake

The Associated Press
Published Jan. 23, 2003

TRENTON, Wis. -- A man died in a Washington County lake after he and another man rode a snowmobile into a patch of open water.
The sheriff's department received a call around 7:35 p.m. Tuesday that a snowmobile with two people on it had gone through the ice on Big Cedar Lake, Lt. Michael Hetzel said.
Members of the Waukesha County Dive Rescue Team recovered the body of 21-year-old Michael J. Mann of rural West Bend about four hours later in 30 feet of water, authorities said.
A teenager on his way to church helped rescue the other man, Craig Davidson, 30, of West Bend, Sheriff Jack Theusch.
Torey Bringa, 17, said he heard cries for help as he walked out of his house to his car.
``It sounded like 'help' or 'call,' but it sounded pretty faint,'' Bringa said. He got in the car but thought again and walked toward the sound.
Bringa said he ran into his home, grabbed some rope and a flashlight and headed onto the ice, following the cries. As he approached the open water, he met two other people who had heard the same pleas for help. They threw the rope to the man and pulled him up.
``(The man) told us he had been hanging on to his friend's shoulders before we got there. He said he was pulling him down,'' Bringa said.

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http://www.denverpost.com/Stories/0,1413,36%257E53%257E1132653%2 57E,00.html

Woman drowns in Larimer pond

January 24, 2003
FORT COLLINS, CO - A woman who ventured onto an icy pond after her dog Wednesday drowned in what investigators called "an extremely tragic accident," the Larimer County Sheriff's Office said in a news release.
Tracy D. Bragg was reported missing at 8:30 p.m. after her dog returned home from a walk without her, the release said. Her husband and a friend searched the area and called the Sheriff's Office when they found footprints leading to the pond at Eagle Ranch Estates in eastern Larimer County.
The Sheriff's Office sent a dive rescue team to the site, and searchers later recovered her body. Authorities believe she slipped from the ice into open water.
Bragg had been a co-owner of Needlepoint of View Gallery in Niwot, which closed in March after the owners retired to spend more time with families.

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Jan. 22, 2003

Some want to issue fines for ice rescues

Greenbay Press Gazette
By Paul Srubas
psrubas@greenbaypressgazette.c om

The prospect of having to pay a hefty fee for their own rescue is unlikely to deter fishermen from going out on dangerous ice, a Green Bay fishing enthusiast says.“I don’t think anybody goes out there saying, ‘I might fall through,’” said Daryl Warren, an ice fisherman and manager of a bait shop. “They don’t go out there thinking, ‘If I fall through, somebody will come get me, but it won’t cost anything.’ They go out thinking the ice is safe or that it’s going to happen to somebody else. They go out thinking, ‘I won’t have a problem.’”
Rescue crews in Brown County and most other areas of Wisconsin don’t charge for their services. But that could change in Winnebago County, where Sheriff Michael Brooks has asked the Winnebago County Board to establish a rate schedule for charging people who ignore warnings and break through thin ice on local lakes.“
I don’t believe I as a taxpayer should have to pay for damage and recovery costs when people are out there and they shouldn’t be out there,” Brooks told a Winnebago County Board committee this month.
He made the request after police and fire departments spent nine hours and damaged two county-owned hovercrafts trying to rescue people stranded on the ice of Lake Winnebago in late December.
Rescue crews in the Brown County area perform their share of ice rescues on the bay and area lakes and streams, but there is no organized effort to impose a fee on people being rescued.“We don’t impose any charges at all,” said Tom Madigan, director of County Rescue, a nonprofit company that provides ambulance and rescue services under contract with 19 municipalities in Brown County.
Madigan runs the area’s STAR team — the Specialized Trauma and Rescue team of divers, climbers, pilots and others who perform a variety of emergency rescue operations. And County Rescue’s two helicopters, though intended for emergency medical transport, are frequently called up for search-and-rescue operations.
Aside from the pilot’s salary and insurance costs, helicopter rescue operations cost an estimated $450 an hour in fuel and depreciation, Madigan said. That means that County Rescue, which helped Winnebago County get the men off Lake Winnebago in that late December operation, cost the company about $1,800, Madigan said.But Madigan and most police and fire departments regard rescue operations as part of the job.
“The reason we don’t want to impose a charge is, we want people to call,” Madigan said. “Once you impose charges, the next person could hesitate because they’re worried about a bill.”
But like Winnebago County’s sheriff, many public officials find it frustrating when fishermen and snowmobilers ignore warnings and get into trouble on thin ice, forcing rescuers to endanger themselves.
“I remember being out on one where we had to slide a ladder after one of our men, so that if he fell in during the rescue, he’d be able to get out,” said Harold Kaye, a former Green Bay firefighter and current chairman of the Brown County Board’s Public Safety Committee. Kaye said no one’s talking locally about imposing a rescue fee, but he’d like to see something done. “I think someone — the (state Department of Natural Resources), the sheriff — should determine whether it’s safe or unsafe, and if it’s unsafe and they go out anyway, there’d be some sort of fine,” he said.However, Kaye said, thanks to liability concerns, no government official likely would ever be willing to declare that ice was safe. In fact, the DNR won’t.
“Our pat answer is, no ice is safe ice,” said DNR game warden Mike Stahl, Oconto Falls. “There’s no way we know every ice condition on every body of water, and conditions can change daily. … We can’t guarantee it. Nobody can.”The general rule of thumb, Stahl said, is that it should be at least a foot thick before you drive a vehicle on it. “It should be at least 6 inches for an ATV or snowmobile, and 4 inches for it to be walkable,” he said.“Check with local sporting good shops and fisherman” to find out local conditions before venturing out on the ice, he said

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Jan. 23, 2003

2 teens who died at Lake Minnetonka identified

BY AMY MAYRON
Pioneer Press

After crashing into open water on Lake Minnetonka in a car, a 17-year-old girl pulled herself out Tuesday night and then walked and crawled a short distance in near-zero temperatures before dying on top of the ice.
And the body of a 16-year-old boy who was in a car with the girl was found in the water Wednesday after a day of searching for him with cameras and divers at Robinsons Bay in Deephaven.
The Hennepin County Medical Examiner identified the victims as Jacqueline Hannah Fricke, 17, and Evan Wilson, 16. Both were from Minnetonka. Earlier Wednesday, Hennepin County sheriff's deputies traced the girl's steps from an open area of the water, where tire tracks from the car ended. Authorities believe she died about midnight or before, when it was about 1 degree above zero.
"It was clear she was in the water; then she walked, collapsed and crawled for 200 yards," said sheriff's Capt. Bill Chandler. "It's very painful to look at the scene."
The deaths brought the state's ice-related fatalities to 10 so far this winter — double the number for the entire season last year. The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources and local sheriff's offices repeatedly have warned people in the southern two-thirds of the state to stay off the ice. After last year's abundant precipitation, heavy discharge of warm groundwater into lakes has caused severely dangerous conditions with thin ice and holes as big as several acres.
The girl's parents called the Hennepin County sheriff's office about 6 a.m. Wednesday to say their daughter hadn't come home Tuesday night and had been driving on the lake with a friend. Sheriff's deputies found her body about 7:30 a.m.
Both victims are from Minnetonka and were juniors at Minnetonka High School, sheriff's and school officials said.
The high school released a short statement expressing sympathy to the families and announcing that grief counselors had spent the day at the school and would remain available into the week if students needed them. Officials at the school would not comment further.
Hennepin County Sheriff's Water Patrol divers searched all Wednesday afternoon for the boy before finding his body at 5:05 p.m., just as deputies were calling off the search for the night. The car, which belonged to the boy, had not been located and it was unclear who was driving when the accident happened.
Searchers used underwater cameras to try to find the car before diving into the dangerous conditions. Thin ice, frigid temperatures and a water depth of about 32 feet posed obstacles to the divers.
The water was about 40 degrees and clear, said sheriff's spokeswoman Roseann Campagnoli. But when the divers emerged to temperatures ranging from zero to 4-above, they ran the risk of hypothermia. So the Water Patrol used an airboat to whisk them to a heated boathouse on the shore.
The Ice Angel, as the boat is called, saw its first major use since it was bought about a year ago.
The boat can quickly glide across thin ice, keeping rscuers safe on surfaces that crack and break as soon as they step on them.
Although Lake Minnetonka was open to vehicles Tuesday and Wednesday, the area of Robinsons Bay at the border of Deephaven and Woodland had been marked with orange flags to warn against the open water, which was believed to be about 2 to 4 acres in size. Flags dotted the perimeter about every 50 feet.
The water had just opened during the weekend and changes in size daily.
It is not uncommon for vehicles to drive on Lake Minnetonka. But police and water safety experts said they were not aware of it being a popular activity for teenagers.
Because of the extreme ice conditions this winter, the DNR has been advising people in the southern two-thirds of the state to stay off lakes, said water safety specialist Tim Smalley.
But many people aren't heeding the warnings.
"We know lots of people do it," Campagnoli said of people driving on the ice. "Just since we've been standing out here today, one truck drove carelessly close to the open water."

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http://www.wbay.com/Global/story.asp?S=1099237&nav=51s7DZgm

Fundraising Fisheree to Help With Ice Rescues

January 25, 2003
WBAY-Action 2

Boom Bay, WI - Some Fox Valley volunteer firefighters hope to better their rescue efforts on the ice. The Boom Bay Volunteer Fire Department plans to buy an airboat to service the north end of Lake Poygan.
Firefighters held a fisheree on Saturday at the Duck Inn Supper Club to raise money for the airboat.
The fire department is also in the process of buying two ice suits and other gear.

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http://www.nj.com/news/bridgeton/index.ssf?/base/news-0/104367304242870.xml

Plane crash kills two

Monday, January 27, 2003

By JOHN BARNA
Staff Writer

PEA PATCH ISLAND, Del. -- Two people died after a single engine plane crashed and burned Sunday night on an uninhabited island in the icy Delaware River.
The plane crashed in snowy weather on Pea Patch Island about 5:40 p.m., said Dave Carpenter Jr., public information officer for the Delaware City Fire Co.
The Beech Bonanza V-35 craft, en route from Wings field in Ambler, Pa., to Columbia, S.C., burst into flames after it crashed on the 228-acre island
With the river iced over, emergency crews from the Delaware City Fire Co. used a Delaware State Police helicopter to reach the island. The first crews arrived at 6:20 p.m. and used hand-held extinguishers to battle the flames, Carpenter said.
Smoke and a fiery glow were visible from Delaware City docks, where emergency crews and reporters gathered. Dozens of residents left their homes nearby to watch the rescue effort.
The state police helicopter was able to make two runs to the island before snow and high winds made it impossible to be safely operated, Carpenter said.
Fire boats from the Wilmington, Holiday Terrace and Port Penn fire companies in Delaware were eventually able to make it to the island, a quarter-mile from the Delaware shoreline and about a mile across the river from Finns Point State Park in Pennsville Township.
It took upwards of two hours to extinguish the fire.
Firefighters pulled two bodies from the plane.
The Delaware River surrounding the island is iced over thanks to two weeks of sustained bitter temperatures, according to the U.S. Coast Guard in Philadelphia.
Winstead said police didn't yet know if weather was a factor in the crash.
A boat from the Lower Alloways Creek Fire Co. was among those dispatched to the site, according to Salem County emergency communications. Clergy also were transported to the crash site by the Delaware City Fire Co.

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http://www.reformer.com/Stories/0,1413,102~8860~1138879,00.htm l

Monday, January 27, 2003

Local crews re-enact rescue for TV cameras

By DANIEL BARLOW
Reformer Staff

NEWFANE, VT -- As emergency workers pulled the pale boy out of the icy waters, a mother's fearful screams were quickly halted by a director yelling, "cut."The once frantic mother quickly became calm after the cameras stopped running. The pale-faced boy, who appeared to be close to death, was only a life-like dummy.Emergency crews from Brattleboro and NewBrook became the stars of a drowning re-enactment Sunday, filmed by a production crew working on a series that will be aired on the Discovery Channel later this year.The story, filmed in a small pond behind WW Building Supply in Newfane, is based on the 1987 drowning death of a young boy in Warwick, R.I.."It was a drowning involving three children," said Capt. Steve Rowell of the Brattleboro Police Department, who was wearing a dry suit in case he needed to jump into the freezing water. "After they fell through some ice, two were brought back and resuscitated, but one boy died."


The footage will be part of an hour-long show called "Critical Rescue" and will air in six to nine months, according to a member of New Dominion Pictures, the production team behind the show.Crews were at the small pond in Newfane from early Sunday morning and worked into the late afternoon filming and re-filming dramatic scenes of rescue.Fire trucks and ambulances from Grace Cottage Hospital were at the scene sporting the logos for the Warwick fire and ambulance services, as well as Rhode Island license plates. A small crowd gathered near the pond all day, a mix of extras and curious onlookers.The dramatic rescue of one of the young boys from the water was shot a half-dozen times Sunday afternoon as a small crew of divers made their way in and out of the freezing waters.Each time director Greg Francis yelled "action," a young mother in the crowd screamed her son's name over and over again as friends and firefighters held her back from the scene.A dummy of a young boy was used in the water scenes, said a woman on the production team who asked not to be identified. Careful editing and quick cuts will make it look like the dummy is actually the body of a young boy, she said.Most members of the production crew were hesitant to discuss the historic case the re-enactment is based on. One crew member said this drowning was chosen because the grandmother of the dead boy successfully petitioned the state of Rhode Island to pay for ice rescue training and equipment for fire departments and rescue services.The Newfane site was chosen because the production team had previously filmed another show in the area a few years ago, said another crew member.The production team was attracted to the idea of using area rescue officials in the re-enactment because it would appear more realistic and take less time, said one crew member."Working with real firefighters and real emergency personnel makes production easier," she said. "Shooting real people doing their real jobs makes production so much quicker."Brattleboro Fire Chief David Emery said the show's producers asked to use his department's crew and equipment because the NewBrook team didn't have the correct cold-water rescue equipment. His department was happy to volunteer the time to be on television, he said."It was really neat," Emery said. "It's something that doesn't happen to you every day."Emery's son, Chad, was also chosen to play Michael Moan, the Warwick firefighter who arrived alone at the scene and saved the lives of two of the boys. The producers flew Chad to Virginia on Wednesday to record some scenes for the episode.For the fire and rescue crews, working on the show was an opportunity to test out some equipment and brush up on some training."I've been working with these people since 6 a.m. and it's been great to try out some of these exercise in a non-emergency situation," said Rowell. "We always try to keep training for situations such as this and this was our opportunity to do that."

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http://www.stjoenews-press.com/print.asp?ArticleID=36767&SectionID=81&SubSectionID=272

Firefighters learn ice rescue

January 26, 2003

By MARSHALL WHITE

St. Joseph, MO - Participants in exercise will soon teach techniques Passers-by were surprised to see a group of people dressed in red or yellow suits moving around on Corby Pond Saturday.The opportunity to witness an ice rescue was the last thing he expected to see Saturday, said Barry Nouzovsky, a senior at Lafayette High School. “I stopped because it was really neat to see something I’ve watched on television,” Mr. Nouzovsky said.Sixteen firefighters, including six from St. Joseph, were out on the Corby Pond ice for some hands-on experience in learning how to teach ice rescue techniques. Their equipment included a Stokes basket, a firefighter’s pike and lots of ropes.Mr. Nouzovsky and other passers-by who stopped at the pond observed a series of rescues when a hole was cut into the pond ice. The three-day class teaches firefighters how to conduct an eight-hour class on the fundamentals of ice rescue.Dave Jephson, a trainer with Dive Rescue International, Fort Collins, Colo., conducted the class, which was sponsored by the St. Joseph Fire Department.“The primary concern in ice rescue is to get the victim and the rescuer to shore safely,” Mr. Jephson said.In some rescues, a victim may sustain cracked ribs during the recovery process, he said. That’s all right, if the rescuer succeeds in getting that person to shore, Mr. Jephson said. Those ribs will mend, he said. Mr. Jephson, who lives in British Columbia, Canada, said he was excited about the class.“Within a month these 16 instructors will have taught at least 320 other rescue personnel the ins and outs of ice rescue,” he said.The six men from the St. Joseph Fire Department are going to be instructing their entire department on ice rescue procedures, he said.The ice was about eight inches thick Saturday. The future instructors got a surprise when at one point during the class there was a loud cracking sound. A portion of the ice began to sink under their feet, but no one had to be rescued.Before leaving the scene, firefighters replaced the blocks of ice. The ice would refreeze overnight, Mr. Jephson said.Today, the new instructors will teach a class and be critiqued on their presentations, he said

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http://www.norwichbulletin.com/news/stories/20030125/localnews/846576.html

Saturday, January 25, 2003

Family dog plucked to safety from icy pond

By Amy Beth Preiss
Norwich Bulletin

LISBON, CT --Abbey is alive today thanks to the Lisbon Fire Department. The 3-year-old Australian cattle dog was rescued early Friday morning from the icy waters of a pond at 114 Town House Road. Rescuers with the volunteer fire department responded to a call at 4 a.m. that a canine had fallen through ice on a pond on the side of the house. The dog belongs to the Green family, who is thankful to the fire department. "My husband let the dog out to do her doggie thing," Mary Beth Green said Friday. Green said the dog decided to take a stroll on the pond, something it has done numerous times. She said the dog is usually very careful about walking on ice and usually gets off as soon as she hears a crack. "But then my husband heard her barking and he went right back out to find her," she said. There was one very small area of the pond that was not frozen and Green suspects her dog was trying to drink from that spot. Her husband attempted to rescue the dog using a ladder. When he was unsuccessful, the family called the fire department. Green said she suspects the dog was in the water for 45 minutes. "He realized he couldn't get her out himself," Green said. "We just can't believe it, most anything wouldn't have survived that. We can't believe she has no frostbite or anything. She is perfectly fine. We can't believe it. She is acting normal and actually wants to go back outside. The Lisbon Volunteer Fire Department was excellent. Deputy Fire Chief Thomas Sparkman said Chief Mark Robinson arrived on the scene to find that the small dog had fallen through the ice about 35 feet from shore in approximately 12 feet of water. Rescuers put on their cold water rescue suits, went out onto the pond, entered the frigid waters and rescued little Abbey, Sparkman said. "The little thing was just paddling away in the ice there waiting for us to get to her," Sparkman said. Sparkman said the department purchased the cold-water rescue suits late last year. And, by luck, Lisbon Fire Department members and members of the Baltic Fire Department completed a certification course last Sunday, which allowed rescuers to place the suits in service. "We just can't believe she is OK," Green said. "It's a miracle she is fine. The Lisbon Volunteer Fire Department was excellent."

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http://www.dailyrecord.com/news/03/01/27/news5-icenine.htm

01/27/03
The Daily Record

Rescue mission breaks the ice

By Abbott Koloff, Daily Record

This time, they had time to talk about technique, to listen to instruction, and to correct mistakes. Members of Jefferson Fire Company No. 2 spent a cold morning on the ice of Lake Hopatcong, some of them in freezing water, where they practiced saving lives.John Zylinski, along with more than a dozen others, wore a protective neoprene suit, known as a Gumby suit, and practiced pulling people out of the water. He said this was nothing like the real thing, when his heart races, his adrenaline's pumping, and he races to save a victim whose body temperature is dropping."You know the clock is ticking," Zylinski said.More than 50 members of Fire Company No. 2, along with members of the Jefferson Township Rescue Squad, held an ice rescue practice session Sunday morning at the Lake Forest Yacht Club.Trip to lakeAt a time when many people were still curled up in bed, they gathered at headquarters and packed up equipment to take to the lake. Once there, men and women who during the week are accountants, salespeople and utility workers practiced riding a special two-pontoon sled that glides on ice and floats on water. They passed victims from the sled to a stretcher. They tested a rescue basket that can be placed on another sled and towed off the ice by an all-terrain vehicle."We try to do this once or twice a year," said Jonathon Van Norman, 28, chief of Fire Company No. 2 and a automobile sales manager.Officials said the company usually gets more than three calls each winter to rescue people from the lake. Sometimes, passers-by get victims out of the water before the ice rescue team arrives. Otherwise, firefighters know they sometimes have only minutes to save a victim before their body temperature drops too low.The company hasn't performed any rescues this year because the lake froze quickly, officials said, and there have been fewer areas of thin ice than usual. There weren't any rescues last year because the water didn't freeze. But there are plenty of snowmobiles on the lake this year, along with windsurfers, ice fishermen, ice skaters and people who simply like to stroll across the lake's frozen surface.And while the ice is 10 inches thick in places, Mickey DeLoreto, a past chief of Fire Company 2, said Lake Hopatcong is known for underwater springs producing areas of thin ice.Three years ago, the company rescued a man who had fallen through the ice while walking with his wife. The man helped his wife out of the water and she called 911, officials said. That was an especially difficult rescue, firefighters said, because it was dark and snowing.Also three years ago, a snowmobile hit some rocks in the middle of the lake and its passengers were injured. Firefighters commandeered passing snowmobiles in order to reach them. Since then, the township purchased two ATVs for the company.Tim Johnson, an 18-year-old firefighter, played the first victim of the day. He donned his Gumby suit and walked across the ice, looking for a good place to fall into the water. The Gumby suit offers protection in 35-degree water for about six hours but it's not completely sealed at the neck.DeLoreto, standing on a nearby dock, suggested that Johnson get on his hands and knees so he wouldn't fall straight down and be completely submerged, allowing water to seep into his suit. With water temperatures just above freezing, DeLoreto said that wouldn't be terribly comfortable.Bob Place, in the department for five years, straddled the pontoons of the rescue sled and pulled Johnson on board. He practiced the same maneuver several times while DeLoreto, standing on a nearby dock, made suggestions about how to fine-tune his technique. Performing a rescue in a Gumby suit can be tricky, firefighters said."You've got no flexibility," said Place, 41.Firefighters later practiced passing victims to rescue squad members. Bill Flatt, captain of the rescue squad, said his squad members would then cut off a victim's clothes and pack them in blankets to raise their body temperature. He said a victim can survive perhaps 10 to 15 minutes in the water.So firefighters practiced new techniques, such as getting in the water to get a sling around victims. Afterward, they went back to the firehouse, where they had soup and sandwiches, and their chief, Van Norman, reminded them of some of the dangers of ice rescues. All it takes is one misstep, he said, for a firefighter to go from rescuing someone to needing to be rescued.

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http://www.nj.com/popups/classifieds/index_nj_careers1.html?zzDoNot Count

Ice complicates water rescue attempts

Tuesday, January 28, 2003

By EMILY M. SHAFER
Staff Writer

Steering a boat through ice is no easy feat.
But when there's an accident on frozen waters and the temperature is below freezing, sometimes it has to be done.

This weekend the dangers of attempting to navigate and ice-filled river were illustrated again.
U.S. Coast Guard workers and emergency personnel in Lower Alloways Creek Township responded to a small plane crash on Pea Patch Island on Sunday night, despite the portion of the Delaware River being frozen.
"When there are icy conditions it will limit any type of boat you send out," said Lieutenant Commander Tim Meyers of the U.S. Coast Guard base in Philadelphia. "First thing we usually consider (in these conditions) is sending a helicopter."
The atmospheric weather conditions, such as wind and visibility, also play a role in determining whether to send a helicopter or boat, Meyers said. Helicopters also have a swimmer on board.
The LAC river rescue team responded to Sunday's plane crash, but when they got halfway there, the ice in the Delaware River shifted, LAC Fire Chief David Hinchman said. They had to wait for tugboats to come out and break the ice. Two tugboats did come and the rescue boat followed close behind.
According to Hinchman, the river hasn't been frozen this bad since the mid 1990's. LAC Fire Department is one of two departments in the county that has marine rescue capabilities, the other being Salem.
"This is the first time we ever really had a problem getting out in the winter," Hinchman said. "Everybody was trying to get through the ice. Some ice clusters are sharp enough to cut a hole in the regular boat if you hit it hard enough."
Meyers said that the Coast Guard station has two ice breaker boats that are on call all the time for search and rescue. They also have larger ice breaker boats that are also buoy tenders. They may send one of those, depending on what vessel is closer to the area.
On Sunday, they sent a buoy tender and also dispatched a helicopter. When rescuers from New Jersey and Delaware arrived on Pea Patch Island, they found the burned single-engine plane. The two people aboard were killed.
"In the last few years, we haven't had conditions that were quite this bad," Meyers said. "Icy conditions do limit our response capabilities. We are not able to respond as we could without the ice."
Aside from getting through the ice, Hinchman said that one of the main concerns is preventing hypothermia. There are special suits that the rescuers where so they don't get frostbitten. Hinchman also said that paramedics check the volunteers when they come back to make sure they're OK.
"When the river is frozen in the winter, marine rescue is a lot harder to do," Hinchman said.

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http://www.wisinfo.com/thereporter/news/archive/local_8524043.shtml

Feb. 05, 2003

Another snowmobile goes into Winnebago

By Lee Reinsch
the reporter

Winnebago Co., WI - Despite the fact that two men died on Lake Winnebago over the weekend and that officials are telling people to stay off the ice, another snowmobiler went through the ice on Tuesday.Luckily, the person involved in the most recent mishap wasn’t hurt.
Fire Department Battalion Chief Toby Leeds says the man had been snowmobiling on the Fond du Lac River channel and had just gotten to the mouth of the river at Lake Winnebago when he hit thin ice and went through.It happened around 6 p.m. Tuesday about 30 feet offshore from Frazier Point, in the same spot two cars went through the ice a week ago, said Leeds. No one was hurt in that incident a week ago, either.
Two other cars went though the ice early Monday morning, resulting in the drowning of Zacheria Pickart, 19, of Fond du Lac. A 36-year-old Ripon man, Dennis Scheuers, was killed Saturday night when his snowmobile hit a chunk of ice and went airborne, throwing him from the machine.Regarding Tuesday’s incident, Leeds said, “He was up and out of the water right away.”
Leeds said his department did not take down the man’s name after checking him out. “He was cold and wet, but that’s about it,” said Leeds.The water was very shallow in the spot where Tuesday’s snowmobiler went through the ice. Leeds estimates it at only two or three feet.
“You could see the handlebars (of the snowmobile) sticking up out of the water,” Leeds said.Department of Natural Resources Conservation Warden Ed McCann says the ice is dangerous and people should stay away from it. He said he has several public talks slated over the next two days in which he will try to get the message out to the public. He will speak on local radio stations.
Fond du Lac County Sheriff’s Department Chief Deputy Mick Fink has deemed ice conditions on Lake Winnebago “treacherous.”

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http://www.wisinfo.com/thereporter/news/archive/local_8492874.shtml

Feb. 04, 2003

Frantic effort made to save life
Attempts fail after two cars plunge into open water

By Peggy Breister
the reporter

Winnebago, WI - Seven young men did everything they could to rescue a friend after the cars in which they were riding plunged into the icy waters of Lake Winnebago shortly after 11 p.m. Sunday, Fond du Lac County Sheriff’s Department officials say.Zacharia Pickart, 19, of 533 Monmouth St., was the driver of one of two cars that drove into open water about 1½-miles from the West Shore and about the same distance north of Lakeside Park.
Preliminary autopsy results indicate Pickart drowned, said Sheriff’s Department Detective Chip Capoyianes. Sheriff’s Department divers found him under the water about eight feet from his vehicle shortly after 9 a.m. Monday.The accident comes one year to the day that Fond du Lac resident Rose Roberts died when her snowmobile went into open water on Lake Winnebago.
Pickart and two friends were in a car following another car on the lake shortly after 11 p.m. when the driver of the first car realized he was off a marked ice road and was heading toward open water, according to Sheriff’s Department reports. The driver of the first car, Chad Fraley, 23, of Taycheedah, tried to stop but his car was struck in the rear end by Pickart’s car and both cars plunged into a large hole in the ice. They were traveling about 30 mph, according to reports.Sheriff’s Department Chief Deputy Mick Fink said the second car hit the first car with enough force to discharge the airbag in the second car and cause front-end damage.
Fraley and four passengers in his car — Ben Freiberg, 19, of 332 Sibley St.; Ben Johnson, 21, of 354 Bank St.; Steven Scott, 23, of 565 W. Scott St.; and William Van Gorder, 22, of 448 N. Hickory St. — were able to get out of the vehicle.
Pickart and two passengers in his car — Blake Freiberg, 15, and Bryan Freiberg, 20, both of 332 Sibley St. — also were able to get out of Pickart’s car. Pickart was holding on to two of the Freiberg brothers, but he lost his hold and disappeared into the water as they worked their way to ice that would support their weight, according to a report.
The seven moved around to distribute their weight on the thin ice, Capoyianes said.
“They were cold. They were shaken up,” he said. “I think they did everything they could to try and rescue their friend.”
Although most of the occupants of Fraley’s car had been drinking prior to the accident, only one person was cited for underage drinking. Tests of the other passengers revealed that they did not meet the requirements for alcohol citations, according to the report.
Before the seven walked more than a mile to shore to get help, one of them pushed some snow into a pile to mark the spot where the cars went into the water. The cars sank to the bottom in about eight to 10 feet of water.Some of the people in the cars were very familiar with the lake and had spent time on the lake earlier in the day ice fishing, according to the report.Fraley said he was driving on the lake when a car started following him. He told Sheriff’s Department officers he didn’t know at first who was in the other vehicle.
“We told him two days ago, ‘Don’t go out there at night,’” Fraley’s mother, Karen Fraley of Taycheedah, said Monday. “He said, ‘Oh Mom, it will be all right.’ Now he sees… We’ve had a rough night.”

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http://www.wisinfo.com/thereporter/news/archive/local_8492962.shtml

Posted Feb. 04, 2003

Sheriff’s Department eyes purchase of ice rescue boat

By Peggy Breister
the reporter

If the accident that sent two cars into the icy waters of Lake Winnebago around midnight Sunday had occurred two weeks from now, the Fond du Lac County Sheriff’s Department may have had a quicker means of getting to the cars and the missing driver.

On Tuesday, Feb. 11, the Fond du Lac County Board will be asked to support a resolution from two committees for the purchase of a $30,000 iceboat (airboat).

A public hearing on the purchase will be held during the meeting because the money necessary for the purchase is not part of the budget. Two-thirds of the board must then support the purchase.In recent years, the Fond du Lac County Sheriff’s Department has relied on hovercrafts from the Winnebago County Sheriff’s Department to assist in rescue efforts on Lake Winnebago.“They were our ace in the hole,” said Fond du Lac County Sheriff Gary Pucker. “But they’re down right now.”The hovercrafts were damaged during a rescue attempt on the lake more than a month ago. Both are being repaired, and one should be operational sometime later this month, a spokeswoman for the Winnebago County Sheriff’s Department said. The other is expected to be down longer.

Without the option of using a hovercraft from Winnebago County, the Fond du Lac County Sheriff’s Department was forced to call Michigan and Green Lake County for help in the attempted rescue early Monday on Lake Winnebago. The U.S. Coast Guard in Traverse City, Mich., could not fly early Monday due to the weather. The Sheriff’s Department dive team was whisked to the scene by a hovercraft from Princeton. Fond du Lac County will be billed for the use of the craft and the time spent by emergency workers.Through some detective legwork, the department located a used Ice Angel airboat in Princeton, Minn.
The boat (airboat) can run on ice, snow or water and is powerful enough to cut through marsh vegetation. It has a front hoist for retrieving submerged items.

Although purchasing an iceboat(airboat)like this one may cost about $83,000 if it were new, the owner of the boat is willing to sell it to the department for $30,000. Chief Deputy Mick Fink traveled to Minnesota and checked out the boat. He said it is in good working order and could be ready to go as a local rescue boat in a couple of days after it is purchased. When the Sheriff’s Department has to rescue someone off the lake, the person rescued may be billed for the use of the boat. Likewise, if the boat is used in mutual aid rescues with neighboring departments, those departments would be billed as well. The fee, he said, would be $500 for the craft and about $34 per hour for each officer involved in the rescue.“We have to find a way to pay for the boat,” Pucker said. “This is one way to do that.”The department has no choice, he said. “This office shares a large responsibility for Lake Winnebago and we have to have the equipment to respond,” Pucker said. “Last night was a classic example of what can go wrong out there,” he said Monday.

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http://www.northjersey.com/page.php?qstr=eXJpcnk3ZjcxN2Y3 dnFlZUVFeXkzJmZnYmVsN2Y3dnFlZU VFeXk2MzM5MzU3

Plow driver saved after icy plunge into river

February 9, 2003

By RAGHURAM VADAREVU
Staff Writer

HACKENSACK - Firefighters rescued a driver from a pickup truck Saturday morning after the vehicle plowed through a chain-link fence and slid down the bank of the Hackensack River near The Record's River Street headquarters.
The front of the truck was submerged in the icy water, and rescue personnel worked quickly and used some ingenuity to pull Carmine Romano safely from the truck as water trickled into the cab, a fire official said.
Romano, a longtime employee of North Jersey Media Group, The Record's parent company, was treated at Hackensack University Medical Center for minor injuries and released, officials said.
"The response from the Fire Department and the paramedics was great," said Harry Schmidt, the company's safety manager. "They were in there, did their job very professionally, and left."
Romano's ordeal began late Friday night at the end of his shift. Using a truck with a plow, he was clearing the last snow from the parking lot outside the company's home-delivery distribution center and repair shop, Schmidt said.
Schmidt said the truck may have hit a patch of ice and skidded off the pavement across a strip of gravel about 15 feet wide, through the fence.
About 12:06 a.m. Saturday, firefighters arrived and tied the cable from the rescue truck's winch to the rear axle of the pickup so it would not slip further into the river, said Deputy Fire Chief Joel Thornton.
"It appeared as if the truck was down in the mud in the bank area, but you can never be sure," Thornton said.
Rescue personnel decided against launching the Fire Department's rescue boat because the river was clogged with ice floes, Thornton said.
Deputy Fire Chief Ed Virgin, who was on the scene, had a solution, Thornton said.
First, Firefighters Mike Martinelli and Joe Ackerman were tethered by lifelines. Then, they gingerly went down the riverbank and along the truck, and pulled Romano out the rear window, Thornton said.
After the save, Martinelli and Ackerman ended their 24-hour shifts at 8 a.m. Saturday, Thornton said.
Romano was recovering at home.
The company was investigating the incident.


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http://www.buffalonews.com/editorial/20030209/1013331.asp

One dead, three rescued after thin ice gives way

By JAY REY
News Staff Reporter
2/9/2003

One person died and three others - including a 10-year-old boy - were rescued in two separate incidents Saturday, after venturing onto thin ice on area waterways. A North Tonawanda man died in the freezing waters of the Erie Canal on Saturday afternoon, after he and his 10-year-old son tried to walk across the ice-covered canal. A couple of hours later, two ice fishermen fell into Lake Erie off Hamburg Town Beach. Both were able to get out of the water safely; they were spotted and picked up by an Erie County Sheriff's Department helicopter two to three miles off the Hamburg shoreline. "No ice is safe ice," Sheriff Patrick M. Gallivan said Saturday, "especially with the shifting, high winds we have been having. Predictability of the ice can change from hour to hour with these winds." Andrew Heft, 35, of Old Falls Boulevard in North Tonawanda, died in the Erie Canal, but only after he helped get his son out of the water and safely to shore on Old Niagara Falls Boulevard in Amherst. Divers pulled Heft's body from the canal shortly after 5 p.m., about three hours after he and his son, Michael Daken of Mead Street, North Tonawanda, slipped through the ice. Heft was able to boost his son out of the water onto more solid ice so that a witness could drag the boy to shore, Amherst police said. "Witnesses said that the father actually helped get the boy out of the water," said Amherst Police Lt. Stephen McGonagle. "And then he went down," McGonagle said. Michael - who lives with his mother, Jennifer Daken - was taken to Women's and Children's Hospital, where he was recovering Saturday night, authorities said. "They're getting his body temperature up. He's awake and alert. He sounds pretty good," Amherst Police Lt. Paul Fels said Saturday night. It began with a trip to McDonald's on Saturday afternoon. The father and son left Heft's home on Old Falls Boulevard in North Tonawanda, which abuts the northwest border of Amherst. The two were walking to the nearby McDonald's restaurant on Niagara Falls Boulevard, but noticed that their route - the bridge on Robinson Road - was congested with traffic, according to what Daken told police. Instead, the two decided to walk across the ice-covered canal, which runs near Heft's home. The section of the canal they chose to cross is just north of Robinson Road, near North Tonawanda's Botanical Gardens and Greenhouse. It's here where the canal splits Old Niagara Falls Boulevard in Amherst and Sweeney Street-Old Falls Boulevard in North Tonawanda. A small park and boat launch on the North Tonawanda side provide easy access to the water. The father and son were about 20 yards from shore, or closer, when they hit a thin spot in the ice and fell through, McGonagle said. The two apparently kept trying to get onto the ice, but the ice kept breaking, authorities said. A young girl spotted the two struggling in the water and ran to get her father, John Harrison, who lives nearby, police said. Harrison grabbed a 100-foot extension cord and tossed it to the father and son. "Mr. Heft was able to push the boy out onto the ice, and Mr. Harrison dragged (Michael) to shore," Fells said. "Shortly after, Mr. Heft slipped under the ice." Police received a call at about 2:15 p.m., and the search for Heft began. Responding to the scene were Amherst, North Tonawanda and state police, the Coast Guard and firefighters from the Ellicott Creek, Getzville, North Amherst, Wendelville, Clarence Center, East Amherst and North Tonawanda fire companies. The Sheriff's Department helicopter helped break the ice on the canal and searched for Heft from the air. Divers found Heft's body in the frigid, dark water just after 5 p.m., about 20 yards from shore. Police said it's not unusual for people to walk on the ice covering the canal. Meanwhile, Saturday morning in Hamburg, David E. Crawford, 45, of Hamburg, and his fishing partner, William Nelson Jr., 39, no address available, drove a snowmobile and heavy sled about three miles onto the Lake Erie ice, sheriff's officials said. As they began to pack up to leave sometime before 5 p.m., the snowmobile and sled went through the ice. The fishermen were able to get out of the water, but their snowmobile, sled and equipment were lost. The two had been walking on the ice toward shore for about 20 minutes before Capt. Kevin Caffery and Flight Officer Art Litzinger, in the sheriff's helicopter on a routine patrol, spotted the two and picked them up. Crawford could not be reached to comment Saturday night. "These men are lucky to be alive," Caffery said. "This year, we have seen an abundance of people venturing farther and farther out onto the ice, either using their all-terrain vehicles or snowmobiles. It is a dangerous practice and could be deadly."

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http://www.portclintonnewsherald.com/news/stories/20030212/localnews/970763.html

Snowmobiler lost in whiteout rescued

News Herald reports
PUT-IN-BAY, WI -- A Coast Guard helicopter crew from Detroit rescued a Rattlesnake Island snowmobiler from frozen Lake Erie early this morning after he spent three hours on the ice. The man, Pete Lacomb, was taken by a Coast Guard rescue helicopter to Magruder Hospital, where he was released after treatment. Early reports show Lacomb was last seen around 11 p.m. on his snowmobile between South Bass Island and Rattlesnake Island. A caller reported to the Coast Guard that his headlights disappeared when winds swirled to nearly 50 mph and a whiteout engulfed Lacomb and his snowmobile. The Coast Guard dispatched its helicopter rescue crew from Detroit to search for him, and after nearly three hours they spotted him, according to reports.

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http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?Date=20030211&Category=NEWS17&ArtNo=102110032&Ref=AR

Tuesday, February 11, 2003

Helicopters rescue 18 off floes on Lake Erie

PORT CLINTON - U.S. Coast Guard helicopters rescued 18 people from Lake Erie floes late yesterday off Catawba Island.

Winds up to 30 mph churned and broke apart the ice where fishermen had gathered a mile from shore, PO Steve Reeves of the U.S. Coast Guard in Detroit said.

Two helicopters were sent out about 4:20 p.m. after the Coast Guard was told by a fisherman that his fishing buddy was missing. They were separated in the high wind and a snow squall.

A helicopter hoisted aboard 13 people from ice floes, and the other unit carried five people, including the missing fisherman, and took them to shore.

A couple of people fell into the water before the aircraft arrived. One person was treated for hypothermia.

"There was not panic, but they were certainly concerned," Petty Officer Reeves said. Fishermen had to leave behind fishing gear, including at least one all-terrain vehicle.

The inclement weather came up too quickly for the fishermen to get to shore on their own, he said. After the helicopters took them to shore, most of them "took off for their vehicles. Most of them were pretty cold," Petty Officer Reeves said.

Later last night, one of the helicopters tried to escort a pair of ATV riders off the ice from the same general area but ended up having to hoist them into the craft about 9 p.m. because of unsafe conditions.

The Coast Guard worked into the evening to search for remaining fishermen. Nobody else was reported missing. Officers warned that winds forecast for the area are expected to keep ice conditions unstable.

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http://www.fox23news.com/news/regional/story.aspx?content_id=55BA38F5-B2BF-4865-BC0D-612600082AA7


Man dies after falling through ice; three rescued

(Buffalo-AP)- A man died after falling though ice and three people were rescued in two separate incidents in the Buffalo area.

Police say 35-year-old Andrew Heft of North Tonawanda was walking with his ten-year-old son across the ice-covered Erie Canal Saturday afternoon when the ice broke and both fell in.

Heft got his son out of the frigid water, but lost his own life. Divers pulled Heft's body from the canal in Amherst several hours later.

Also yesterday afternoon, two ice fishermen fell into Lake Erie off Hamburg Town Beach. Both were able to get out of the water safely. They were spotted and picked up by an Erie County Sheriff's helicopter two to three miles off the Hamburg shoreline.

Sheriff Patrick Gallivan said no ice is safe, especially with the shifting, high winds.

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http://www.theithacajournal.com/news/stories/20030217/localregional/999933.html

Boy dies after falling into icy lake

Monday, February 17, 2003

The Ithaca Journal
NEW YORK -- A 13-year-old boy sledding on an icy lake in a Bronx park died Saturday afternoon after he fell into the freezing water, police said. Luis Concepcion was sledding with a friend around 12:35 p.m. when he slipped and fell through a layer of ice covering a frozen pond at Van Cortlandt Park, police said. A police scuba team retrieved Concepcion from the lake and transported him by helicopter to Jacobi Hospital, where he was pronounced dead just before 3 p.m. Firefighters had to walk a quarter-mile across the park to reach the ice-covered pond, which was located in the middle of Van Cortlandt Golf Course. They dove into the pond with cold-water suits, but it wasn't until a police rescue squad arrived that Concepcion was recovered.

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http://www.wkbw.com/story.asp?x=165&id=10323

Fishermen rescued from Lake Erie

February 9, 2003

wkbw - The Erie County Sheriff's helicopter helped rescue some ice fishermen who broke through the ice about three miles out onto Lake Erie off Hamburg Town Beach. David Crawford, 45, of Hamburg, and his companion, William Nelson, 39, drove a snowmobile and sled out onto the ice covered lake. They fell through the ice and were able to get out of the water, but their sled and equipment was lost.

Captain Kevin Caffery was on a routine patrol when he spotted the pair walking on the ice toward the shore and was able to take them to safety.

Captain Caffrey warns that the ice out on the lake becomes very unstable with windy conditions and ice fishermen put themselves in danger by testing themselves. The condition of the ice can change from hour to hour.

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http://www.startribune.com/stories/462/3657840.html

Snowmobiler rescued from Crow River

Kavita Kumar

Feb. 17, 2003

Star Tribune
Minneapolis, MN -- A 32-year-old man from St. Michael, Minn., was rescued Sunday from open water and ice on the Crow River after the snowmobile he was riding sank, according to the Wright County Sheriff's Office.
The snowmobiler had been skipping over open water when the skis on his machine hooked an ice ridge and it sank in the open water, officials said.
The man, whose name was not released, was airlifted to North Memorial Medical Center in Robbinsdale. The extent of his injuries was unclear Sunday night.
At about 5:10 p.m., the Sheriff's Office received a cell phone call about the incident. Authorities were not able to determine the location at first, but subsequent cell phone reports narrowed it to an area in St. Michael.
The Sheriff's Office, which is investigating, was assisted by St. Michael fire and rescue officials and the Hennepin County Sheriff's Office Water Patrol.

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20 rescued from ice floes
'They were running out of real estate'

By RICK NEALE
Staff writer

CATAWBA ISLAND, WI -- An unexpected snow squall splintered the Lake Erie ice Monday afternoon, stranding 20 fishermen on various ice floes between Green Island and the mainland. Two U.S. Coast Guard helicopters hoisted the fishermen from the floes, shuttling the majority to the tip of the Catawba Island peninsula just west of the Miller Boat Line dock. "There wasn't anyplace for them to go," Petty Officer Blake Lange said, describing a band of seven fishermen stuck on a floe the size of a football field. "The ice was building up underneath each other (at the edges). They were running out of real estate." One fisherman, Melissa Daniels, fell into the frigid lake and was flown to Magruder Hospital for possible hypothermia. She was treated and released. Further information was not available this morning. No other injuries were reported. Although initial reports on the number of rescued fishermen varied, Coast Guard public relations officer Scott Bronson confirmed this morning that 20 anglers were saved. The storm struck after 4 p.m. on an otherwise sunny afternoon. Weather instruments at the Port Clinton wastewater plant recorded wind gusts of 46 mph. Wind and wave action quickly created a maze of ice cracks and reduced visibility to near zero. "Whiteout. You couldn't see. Terrible wind," said fisherman George Sailer of Temperance, Mich., minutes after stepping onto solid ground. "Nothing that was in the forecast." Sailer and two companions fished Monday for five or six hours, staking out shanties about a mile and a half south of Green Island. The squall struck on their return home -- "the ice started cracking up all around us," he recalled. The trio made it about 200 yards from shore at Catawba Island State Park but could venture no further. Wind-propelled ice chunks were breaking and piling up on the shore, and jagged cracks were firing across the ice in all directions. The Coast Guard received its first distress call at 4:20 p.m. from a fisherman who got separated from his friend during the squall, Petty Officer Shane Longauer said. One of the agency's Detroit-based helicopters was about eight miles away, flying routine patrol in the Cedar Creek vicinity. The helicopter switched directions and buzzed to a cluster of seven fishermen trapped about a mile and a half southwest of Green Island, Lange said. Initially, the men refused assistance. The helicopter dropped off a portable radio, then flew to help other fishermen stranded in the vicinity. A second helicopter from the Coast Guard's Detroit base joined the rescue effort at 5:21 p.m. The last pair of fishermen landed at Erie-Ottawa Regional Airport at 9:10 p.m., ending the rescue operation, Longauer said. Larry McCartney of Toledo and Jack Riches of Oregon were fishing for perch with two other buddies and other assorted anglers about a half-mile west of Green Island. "We were just packing up to leave -- and that squall line hit us," McCartney said. "It was a whiteout, man. You couldn't see nothing." McCartney and Riches journeyed back to shore, using hand-held global positioning equipment to mark their course. At one point, they had to jump across a crack in the ice, and they were forced to abandon their snowmobiles along the way. During their colorful trek, McCartney said a huge chunk of ice burst skyward from the lake about 50 feet in front of them. Riches said they could see loose sheets of ice sliding beneath the ice they walked upon. The quartet got about a quarter mile from the state park shoreline before getting stuck. McCartney said the lake ice was generally about a foot and a half thick. Catawba Island EMS crews and firefighters offered treatment for the fishermen on shore. "The ice kind of wavered in the last few days," Petty Officer Scott Giard said. "It rained and it froze, and then it re-froze. The structure of the ice got pretty bad." Joe Kostura owns Hard Water Charters, a Put-in-Bay airboat company. He said he planned to retrieve about 10 abandoned four-wheelers from the Lake Erie ice this morning, along with shanties and other pieces of equipment.

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http://www.wishtv.com/global/story.asp?s=1142347&ClientType=Printable


February 20, 2003

Children Okay After Fall Through Ice

Two children are okay Thursday night after falling through the ice in a pond on the city’s West Side.
Divers spent an hour searching a retention pond Thursday afternoon after a report that a child may have fallen through the ice.
It happened at a subdivision near the 200 block of Girls School Road. Police say a child who was getting off the school bus said he saw children fall through the ice of the subdivision retention pond.
The Wayne Township Fire Department responded to the call and searched the pond. They felt something in the water, so dive teams were sent in. They did not find anything.
However, they heard a report of children wandering around the neighborhood in wet clothes, and determined that the two children had fallen through but escaped. Although they were wet, cold and scared, firefighters say then children will be okay. The children went to a neighborhood home for help after escaping from the icy water.
A sheriff’s deputy is interviewing the two children. Police are also looking for a third child, who also may have been at the scene.

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Emergency workers rescue man on creek
* Eric Hartge went out on ice to save family's dogs


By: AMY REININK, Staff Writer

February 21, 2003


EASTON, MD - Emergency workers labored nearly two hours Thursday morning to rescue an Easton man who had become stranded in a kayak on Peachblossom Creek while trying to save his two dogs from the ice.
The drama that brought two Maryland State Police helicopters, a Department of Natural Resources Police boat and helicopter, several Easton firefighters and workers from the U.S. Coast Guard and Talbot County Emergency Medical Services to the creek's shore started about 8:30 a.m., when neighbors called the Hartges to say the family's dogs had wandered onto the ice to chase a deer.
Eric Hartge, 23, of Easton, and his father, Totch Hartge, "busted out of the house, ran through the snow with the kayak, not really sure what we would do yet," when they got the call, said a shivering Totch Hartge after his son and the dogs were on dry land.

Eric Hartge jumped in the kayak and rowed out, his father said, fetching the dogs but weighting the kayak so much he could not turn back toward shore.
Totch tried to walk on the ice toward his son, but fell through at wading depth, he said.
By 8:50 a.m., neighbors had called 911.
Totch Hartge, his wife and his daughter watched from the shore as rescue workers swarmed in to help.
"All of a sudden, the world came to visit," Totch Hartge said.
The helicopters droned overhead for several minutes before one of the two Maryland State Police copters hovered close to the water, dropped a rescue basket to Eric Hartge, lifted him toward land and deposited him safely on the bank of the creek.
Eric Hartge and the mixed-breed dogs, Maggie and Bailey, had been stranded for nearly two hours in the water-filled kayak.
Department of Natural Resources officers on a motorboat and Easton Fire Chief Russel Miles in a diving suit went back to fetch the dogs.
After the whir from the choppers died down and Eric Hartge was wrapped in a blanket on the way to the hospital, Cpl. Elizabeth Beck reflected on what had been a difficult mission for herself, another helicopter paramedic and the copter's pilot during a debriefing with firefighters and other rescue workers.
She called such an airlift "one of the most dangerous things you can be a part of."
Eric Hartge was brought to Memorial Hospital at Easton, where he was treated and released.

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http://www.newsday.com/news/local/wire/ny-bc-ny-brf--riverdeath0217feb17,0,6040966. story?coll=ny-ap-regional-wire

Man dies after being pulled from icy Niagara

February 17, 2003, 9:26 PM EST

NORTH TONAWANDA, N.Y. -- A 57-year-old man died after bobbing in the frigid Niagara River for more than 30 minutes on Monday.

Louis Lovallo Jr. had parked his car on a bridge over a river bend split by an island, roughly 10 miles upstream from the Niagara Falls, authorities said.

Police saw his car at 11 a.m. before they spotted him floating in the water 45 minutes later, said North Tonawanda Assistant Fire Chief Joseph Krantz.

"He was at least aware of what was going on and his head was above water," Krantz told the Tonawanda News. "He had a jacket on and it puffed up. Apparently he jumped in the water."

Lovallo ended up near a piece of a broken Lake Erie ice boom, where a diver and rescue workers dragged him out of the 30-degree water.

His core temperature was 86 degrees, authorities said.

"He was in the water about 30 to 45 minutes before he got pulled out," said Joseph Piwtorak, a volunteer firefighter.

Lovallo, of Kenmore, died around 3 p.m. at a local hospital, police said.

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http://www.mlive.com/survey/

Saginaw Riverice fisherman catches ... cold

Monday, February 17, 2003

By Frank C. Lee
TIMES WRITER

Thomas Snover was in his car on the Saginaw River, looking to do some ice fishing Sunday afternoon, when he got that sinking feeling.

He and his 1992 Geo Tracker ended up in the icy river near the Middlegrounds Island, off Coryell Field and Morton Street, before he was rescued.
"All I was doing was what any other ice fisherman was doing - looking for a place to fish," said Snover, 56, of Bay City.
"I was just driving along at 8 mph, in second gear - no one was speeding, no one was drunk - when I saw the open water. By then, it was too late to do anything, and I slid into the hole."
Bay City firefighters found Snover sitting on the rooftop of his partially submerged car after he attempted to walk the estimated 50 feet back to shore.
"I managed to scramble through the car window and get on the roof," Snover said.
"It looked like I could make the jump over the open water ... but I slid into the water and was up to my neck before climbing back on the roof."
Snover estimated he spent 30 minutes in the 8-degree weather before helped arrived.
"My cell phone in my pants pocket got soaked, but there was some young people on shore. I hollered at them, and they said they would call 911," Snover said.
Firefighters used a 14-foot aluminum boat to retrieve Snover, who refused hospital treatment.
"That area of the Saginaw River is pretty remote. He was lucky. If he was out there for any longer he could have ended up dead from hypothermia," said Robert Davey, battalion chief of the Bay City Fire Department.
Bay City police officers ticketed Snover for reckless driving.
"I've fished every inch of the river over the years, usually by myself," Snover said.
"I didn't know about the open water. ... There's a hot water exchange from Monitor Sugar (Co.) that empties into the river at that point, but there's no marking, no signs."
Police said Snover has 48 hours to fish his Geo Tracker out of the Saginaw River.
"You don't know what cold is until you've fallen into the river," Snover said.
"Next time I go ice fishing, I'm going to do it by foot."

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http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=7033634&BRD=1399&PAG=461&dept_id=173065&rfi=6

Man scrambles out of car after going into lake

Jim Stevens, staff writer

February 12, 2003

Town of Merton, WI - Frigid temperatures does not mean lakes are completely frozen over.

Merton, WI -- A Town of Merton man learned that lesson Feb. 9 when his car went into Okauchee Lake.

According to the Waukesha County Sheriff's Department, Adam Sellers, 22, of W332 N6315 Highway C, was driving on Okauchee Lake after ice fishing at about 9 a.m. when his 1998 Ford Escort went into an open area in the ice.

Sellers was able to crawl out a car window, scramble onto the roof and then onto the ice. The incident occurred about one-half mile west of Road N.

Sellers was not injured and walked back to his residence. Fire rescue workers went to his house to check on him to make sure he was not hurt.

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http://www.unionleader.com/articles_show.html?article=185 25

Snowmobile accident on
lake kills local man

By PAULA TRACY
Union Leader Staff

February 25, 2003

LACONIA, NH — A 30-year-old Lakes Region man died about 5 p.m. yesterday when the snowmobile he was riding sank in open water in the channel between Paugus Bay and Lake Winnipesaukee. Fish and Game Lt. Robert Bryant said the location where the man died is a frequent problem for the department because it is a place where snowmobilers attempt to cross open water of more than 100 yards. The practice is known as “skimming.” Two witnesses who were on different sides of the channel gave conflicting reports and Bryant said it was impossible for him to determine yet whether the man was skimming or had approached an area of ice and broke through. His identity was being withheld last night pending the notification of his family. This is the first snowmobiler fatality at the location this year, though in past years there have been others. It took a team of three divers in cold water gear and a crew in a rescue boat almost a half hour to find the body. The body was recovered at 5:26 p.m. in about two feet of water, not far from where the Polaris snowmobile lay in eight feet of water at the bottom of the channel. The snowmobile will be removed today. The scene of the fatal accident was on the Paugus Bay side of the channel near the Naswa resort in an area where there is more than 100 yards of open water. Laconia Fire Capt. Michael Drake said the rescue was a combined effort of the Weirs and Central Fire station, with help from Meredith, which offered a boat that was not used, and a number of bystanders who helped get the Laconia rescue boat over the snow pack and into the water. Fire Lt. William Drew said after the body was recovered, there were attempts at advanced life support on the shore and en route to Lakes Region General Hospital in Laconia. Witnesses said the man appeared to have suffered some sort of head trauma. Bryant said he was declared dead at the hospital. ED

One witness told authorities the man was not dressed for a long snowmobile outing and he had no helmet or regular snowmobile outfit. Bryant said another witness who was facing the operator as he came across said he came across the open water at a high rate of speed then lost engine power and sank a short distance from the other side. There is a section of the channel that does not freeze because of the strong current between the two large water bodies. Skimming “has really been a problem in the past here,” Drake said. Riders get going as fast as they can on the snow and ice and attempt to make it to the other side of open water. Some make it with minimal effort, Drake said. Bryant said there is no specific statute prohibiting skimming but a charge could be brought under the disorderly conduct statute. And if the machine goes in the water, there is a fine for environmental damage. “When you hit the water, it slows you significantly and then getting back on the other side requires some power,” he said. Bryant noted that anything can go wrong on open water. “You never know when you are going to have a malfunction,” he said.

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http://www.poughkeepsiejournal.com/wednesday/policecourts/stories/po030503s2.shtml

Wednesday, March 5, 2003

Teens plucked from ice floe
Boys got stuck as they played hazardous game

By Kathianne Boniello
Poughkeepsie Journal

HYDE PARK -- Three teenagers escaped injury Tuesday evening after they became stuck on an ice floe and began to float down the Hudson River, authorities said. Two were rescued via helicopter and the third swam to safety. Kevin Hall, 17, and Richard Buotte, 16, both of Hyde Park, and Steve Wilson, 16, of Highland, were standing on the ice near the shore at Dock Street, a private road in the Vanderbilt estate, when the ice began to break apart, a friend of the teens said.
Buotte was not far from land when he fell in the river and swam to shore, police said. Hall and Wilson floated about a mile down the Hudson to the Rogers Point Boating Association, a private club. The two teens were more than 100 yards from shore by the time a state police helicopter was able to rescue them with large netted seats that looked like baskets.
A friend of the three teens said playing on the ice was a regular game. ''We play on the loose icebergs,'' said Justin Connors, 16. ''We jump on it and see how long we could stand on it before it floats.'' The three were taken to St. Francis Hospital, where they were treated and released, police said. ''They've done it before,'' said Lt. Gary Bashor of the Dutchess County Sheriff's Office. ''They've been out there several times all winter. They were just lucky that somebody spotted them.''
Bill and Elizabeth Ring of Hyde Park were among those who first saw Hall and Wilson. ''We were just coming in our driveway and we heard a noise out on the water and I looked and there was a person out on the ice,'' Elizabeth Ring said. The boys appeared calm and were pacing on the ice chunks, she said. ''I couldn't believe what I saw.'' Bill Ring said he followed the boys as they floated past his River Road home and toward Rogers Point, shining a flashlight on them and talking to them. ''I told them not to try to swim to shore,'' he said.
Joe O'Neill of the Rogers Point Boating Association also saw the boys. ''A tugboat called us up and told us a kid was on the ice, floating,'' he said. ''And lo and behold another kid appeared.'' Hall and Wilson, clad similarly in jeans, sneakers and sweatshirts, appeared unscathed when they were lowered to the ground by the helicopter and put onto gurneys and into ambulances.
A call for assistance:
The friend, Connors, said he found out the two were in trouble when he called Hall on his cell phone. ''He said 'I'm on the ice, I'm floating in the middle of the ice,' '' Connors said. Hall asked him to bring a rope to the river for a rescue attempt. ''He didn't really sound scared.''
Manny Chaconis, a law enforcement park ranger with the National Park Service, also spotted the pair and tried to keep track of them as the river swept them south. ''They were drifting apart, sometimes standing and squatting back down,'' he said.
Several area rescue agencies aided in the effort to bring the teens to shore, including the Hyde Park and Roosevelt fire departments, the Hyde Park Police Department, the state police and the Dutchess County Sheriff's Office, Bashor said. Diving teams from the state police and the sheriff's office were also on hand to assist in the rescue, police said.
The U.S. Coast Guard also chipped in by alerting boaters to the teens' plight, which resulted in a tugboat locating the pair and illuminating the dark by keeping lights on the two. No charges have been filed, although Bashor said it was possible the teens' families would be charged for the cost of the helicopter use.

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http://www.newsnet5.com/news/2020858/detail.html?type=print

Crews Rescue Bird Watcher From Icy Lake

Man Says He Didn't Realize He Had Wandered Out So Far

March 5, 2003

CLEVELAND -- A dramatic ice rescue occurred Wednesday morning at Wildwood State Park on the city's east side, according to NewsChannel5's Joe Pagonakis.
Officials said that the man is OK after crews pulled him from the ice shortly before noon.
Crews from the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, the U.S. Coast Guard, the Cleveland Fire Department and the Cleveland Police Department assisted in rescuing the man, who had wandered more than 200 feet away from shore.
He didn't have a boat, a life jacket, a cell phone or even gloves.
The man said he was bird watching and didn't realize he had wandered so far out.
"I just walked out there," he said. "I was just watching birds."
People who go to Wildwood every day saw him on the ice and knew that with all the freezing and thawing the area has had recently that the man was in a precarious situation. They called a park ranger, who immediately called police, fire, and emergency officials.
"I just (saw) him on top of the ice," one witness said. "I reported him to the ranger, but he couldn't get him out -- that's why I called (emergency crews)."
After crews arrived, the man was still wandering around on the ice, continuing to bird watch. Officials started calling out to the man on a bullhorn, telling him to stand still. The man said he then realized he was in a dangerous situation.
Crews risked their lives to go out onto the ice with a boat and rescue him. They brought him back to shore safely.
The man was taken to Euclid Hospital, where it was determined he was not injured.
When it was confirmed he was OK, police put handcuffs on him and took him into custody. The bird watcher faced a possible charge of causing a public nuisance, but NewsChannel5 has learned that charges will likely be dropped.
The rescue cost taxpayers more than $3,000, according to officials.

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http://www.qctimes.com/internal.php?story_id=1008973&t=Local+News&c=2,1008973

Wednesday, March 5th, 2003

Driver is thrown into icy Mississippi River
By Todd Ruger

LeCLAIRE, Iowa — Search crews were unable to find a man who was thrown into the icy Mississippi River from the Interstate 80 bridge when a two-vehicle accident sheared off part of his truck Wednesday morning, the Illinois State Police said..
The frame of the truck dangled above the water on the edge of a concrete bridge wall for hours after the collision between the truck and a semitrailer occurred just before 7 a.m.
Divers and boats from local fire departments located the wreckage in the water, but rescue and salvage efforts were called off because of the frigid conditions. Police have not yet released the identity of the man, who is presumed to have died..
The police identified the driver of the semi as Robert E. Arent, 39, of Sayonburg, Pa. He was not injured..
A 1986 Chevrolet Carryall Suburban was westbound on the bridge when its driver lost control and struck a semitrailer, police said. The Chevrolet then traveled onto the concrete wall at the right side of the bridge, struck an aluminum light pole and broke apart, throwing the passenger section over the wall, police said..
Bettendorf Fire Chief Gerry Voelliger Jr. led the diving team at the scene, working in 33-degree water ranging from 12 to 20 feet deep while the wind chill factor made the 10-degree temperature feel like 6 degrees, he said..
Divers in dry suits with fleece liners also fought “quite a bit of current” in between the bridge pillars and “four inches of visibility with a bottom that is scattered with chunks of concrete and other debris,” he said..
“It was extreme diving. We were pushing the limits of technical diving,” he said, adding that a victim could be saved up to an hour after plunging into such cold water..
Ron Fournier of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Rock Island District, said it is not easy for divers to work in the Mississippi, even though the river currents were fairly average Wednesday..
“At the bottom, it’s just going to be mud,” he said. “You won’t be able to see much in front of your face. You have to feel around for what you’re looking for.”.
After contacting the family of the pickup truck driver, state police Sgt. Tom Burek said they are confident there were no other occupants of the Chevrolet at the time of the accident..
A state police news release did not mention whether the remnants of Tuesday’s snowstorm or other road conditions played a part in the accident..
The Illinois Department of Transportation, or DOT, maintains the bridges and removes snow. DOT spokesman Chris Schwarberg said, “It was actually in fairly good shape. We had just plowed at about 6:30 (a.m.) or so.”.
The DOT is careful about snow building up against the concrete walls of bridges and acting as a sort of ramp, but that is not a problem on the I-80 span because there is not a large enough shoulder area for snow to build up on, he said..
“As far as our photos show, there was no snow build-up on the side of the road that would have caused a ramping effect,” he said. “We’re very cautious of that, especially on bridges.”.
DOT workers treat the bridge with liquid salt to prevent frost whenever meteorologists predict poor driving conditions, said Richard Nelson, a maintenance technician with the DOT in Milan, Ill. “The bridges are one of the hardest things to keep clean,” he added..
LeClaire Fire Chief Terry Rossmiller said the pavement might be dry on other parts of the interstate, but the cold air around the bridge increases the chances of frost and ice patches building up on the deck..
The accident closed the westbound lanes of the bridge for much of the morning, but they were reopened after the truck debris was removed.

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http://www.rrstar.com/localnews/your_community/lovespark/20030307-35586.shtml

March 7,2003

Loves Park dog rescue ends wetter than usual
By MIKE WISER‚ Rockford Register Star

ROCKFORD, IL
Loves Park — A wayward pooch on the frozen Rock River was saved by emergency workers Thursday morning, but only after some of them fell through the ice. Everyone, including the dog, was OK, although Fire Chief Phil Foley and Winnebago County Animal Services officer Duwayne Morgan plunged into the water when the ice below them gave way. The black chow fell through the ice near Martin Park, about 20 feet from shore, and was spotted by Rockford patrol officer Tammy Kuczynski around 11:30 a.m. Kuczynski tried to pull the animal to safety with a rope and bucket until Loves Park firefighters and Animal Services officers arrived. Once safe, the dog was taken to the county’s kennel and its owner contacted. Animal Services Director Michelle Sell said the owner plans to pick up the pooch today. “We heard the call come in, so I and another firefighter drove down,” Foley said while drying out in his office Thursday afternoon. “We took out our yellow extend-a-pole with two hooks and a rope in a loop attached and tried to lasso it.” Foley said everything was going fine with the rope around the chow’s neck when another emergency worker stepped on the ice where Foley was standing, about 2 feet from the shoreline. “I can’t really say who it was, but somebody came out, and it just broke,” Foley said. Foley and Morgan fell into the water and were pulled out by other responders. The dog was pulled to shore moments later. “The poor animal had been out there for who knows how long,” Foley said. The whole rescue operation took about 30 minutes. Sell said the chow doesn’t seem to have any adverse reaction to the freezing water. “The dog was dried off, and we’ll have a vet examine it. But everything appears to be fine.” Foley didn’t have any adverse reaction to the water, either. “I scuba dive,” he said. “So it wasn’t a shock.”

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http://www.hollandsentinel.com/cgi-bin/printme.pl

Police: No trace of snowmobiles

Tracks led into water and officials feared a rider had fallen in. Search comes up empty

Holland, NY -- Snowmobile tracks heading into an open water section of partially frozen Lake Macatawa prompted a three-hour search Thursday that came up empty.Police, who were initially concerned a snowmobiler may have crashed through ice or sunk while trying to skim the water, confirmed that two snowmobiles had made it over about 100 feet of water before leaving the lake.Holland police Sgt. Jack Dykstra said authorities received a phone call Thursday morning that there were snowmobile tracks on the lake but it didn't look like the riders crossed over the open water and back to ice in The Narrows area of the lake.To get a better look, Holland firefighters used an extension ladder that can reach 118-feet high, but even then they could not confirm if there were tracks on the other side."There were two sets of tracks going in, but only one going out," said fire Capt. David Serrano. "We don't think it's anything, but better safe than sorry."The Allegan County Sheriff's Department Marine Division was called to assist with the department's Hovercraft, which can ride on water and ice."I think they did make it across the open water," said Allegan sheriff's Sgt. Ken Giles, who rode on the Hovercraft and estimated the opening to be about 100 feet wide. "They were too close together so they couldn't have turned around."Neighbors in the south Park Township area said they were worried last night when they heard snowmobiles on the lake."It was about 8:30 last night so it was dark, but their lights were on," said Jennie Klinger. "I saw two snowmobiles go (east) but then I couldn't see any more. I ran upstairs to look through the bedroom window but I couldn't see anything else.""You can see (the tracks) when they come in, but there is no turning-around point," said her husband, Harvey.No missing person reports was filed Thursday, police said.

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http://www.wisinfo.com/postcrescent/news/archive/local_9097535.shtml

Mar. 08, 2003

Hovercraft return is timely

The Post-Crescent

OSHKOSH, WI — One day after the Oshkosh Fire Department put the newly repaired Winnebago County hovercraft back in service, it was used to rescue three people Friday night from Lake Winnebago.Lt. Mike Jones of the Winnebago County Sheriff’s Department said Dominic L. Horvath, 31, Oshkosh, and his two children were rescued from the ice and were brought to shore safely by the hovercraft after his vehicle started to go through the ice about a quarter-mile off shore at the mouth of the Fox River near Oshkosh.Authorities were notified about 9 p.m. Friday by a resident who saw the hazard lights on a vehicle that had driven onto the ice. A short time later, someone reported hearing someone yelling for help from out on the lake.“It just went back in service yesterday so that was handy,” said Jones. “The mouth of the river is pretty dangerous always. I don’t know why people insist on driving out there.”

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Watertight investment

By Lee Filas
Daily Herald Staff Writer

February 28, 2003

Hypothermia can kill an average man in 22 minutes from the second he slips through a hole in the ice.
In the past, getting from the Fox Lake firehouse to the lake itself, crawling out onto the ice and pulling someone to safety was a slow-going affair
But now, through the use of a rescue airboat, snowmobile drivers or ice fishermen who slip into the water have a greater chance of surviving.
The Quad 2 Rescue Airboat, resting in wait at the Fox Lake fire station on Washington Street, has been credited with saving the life of 16 people so far this year.
The boat, purchased two years ago for under $20,000, is owned by the Northwest Lake County Fire Training Co-op, said rescue dive master Curt Martin.
"In the old days, it used to take about 15 minutes to actually get a guy onto the ice, tethered off, and crawling out to the victim," Martin said. "Now, we can actually get to the victim in six minutes."
The co-op is made up of six fire departments, including Fox Lake, Antioch, Grayslake, Lake Villa, Round Lake and Newport Township.
The co-op purchased the boat through donations earned during its annual golf tournament every summer.
Martin has spent countless hours riding on the airboat, prepared to dive into the frozen water to pull someone out.
"It pays itself off in one rescue," he said. "What price is too much to save lives?"
The boat is available for rescues anywhere in northern Illinois.
Martin said the old way of rescuing victims involved dive rescuers suiting up and waiting on shore, while a brave soul walked on the ice out to the victim dragging a small red "Jon Boat" stretcher.
The rescuer then crawled to the hole and slipped into the water, holding onto the victim, who is then pulled out via the rescue technicians on shore
Now, the flat-bottomed, steel boat - which can travel across ice, water and swamp with the help of a big fan-like motor - pulls up to within a pole's length of the victim and drags him out.
The large fan not only propels the boat across the water, but the sleek steel of the boat allows it to glide across water and ice.
"In extreme cases, we still send a diver in to make sure he doesn't slip under the surface," Martin added. "But, usually, they aren't near the hypothermia point when we get to them, and they can grab the pole."
The fastest time to getting to a victim in the past was just over 15 minutes. This year, rescuers using the airboat had a victim out of danger within a mere six minutes.
Fox Lake assistant chief Ted Beskow said the addition of the airboat in Fox Lake has saved lives over the past two years.
"Without a doubt it has been the greatest addition to the co-op," Beskow said. "When you can reach a person who has fallen through the ice in six minutes, you can easily call it a success."
And, he said, saving people from hypothermia is what saves lives.
"It's incredible," Beskow said. "And, it's been done for under $20,000. How great is that?"

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http://www.portclintonnewsherald.com/news/stories/20030311/localnews/1154816.html

Airboat operator rescues dog stranded 3 days on ice

By JENNIFER FUNK
Staff writer

MARBLEHEAD, OH -- Airboats from Put-in-Bay have come through in the clutch twice this winter -- once for a premature baby delivery and another for a dramatic dog rescue.
In the first instance, Margaret Couch and her husband Dennis, had to secure an emergency midnight ride from the island to Sandusky from an airboat owned by Put-in-Bay Mayor Bernard "Mack" McCann and Todd Blumensaadt. That was at the end of January, when the pregnant islander was rushed to the mainland to deliver her 4 pound, 14 ounce son, Charles Joseph, one month premature.
In the second instance, a former Marblehead woman's puppy escaped to frolic on the ice last week and instead got stuck for three full days before he could be rescued. "They are really handy," said Joe Kostura, who initiated the dog rescue with one of his two airboats he owns for Hard Water Charters, a transportation company in the winter and fishing charter in the summer. "There are about a dozen on the island now, and at least four on the mainland that come out here now, too."
The ordeal started for the four-month-old German shepherd/Labrador retriever mix, Deuce, on March 3 when he came home with his owner, 20-year-old Rachel Lucas, while she visited her parents on the peninsula. He ran away while playing at a neighbor's house on March 3, and though neighbor David Glovinsky kept telling Lucas he saw the pup out on the ice with binoculars, she could not spot him. That is, until Wednesday afternoon, when she finally saw a dog a mile or more off the mainland chasing his tail. "That's how I knew it was him, he's chasing his tail constantly," said Lucas from her Bowling Green home this weekend. She tried calling several different agencies, but no one would take the chance out on the ice to cultivate a rescue operation. Glovinsky even donned cold water survival equipment and tried to walk out to coax Deuce in, but the puppy was skittish and ran away from him. A worker at Catawba Veterinary, however, knew of a charter captain who owned an airboat and also was an animal-lover: Joe Kostura of Hard Water Charters. He had just finished his last trip of the day bringing people and freight to and from the island when he received the call. "I had my father-in-law with me and I said c'mon, let's go and get these people's dog," Kostura said. "It took us about an hour to find him. "You would think it would be easy to spot a black-faced, brown-bodied dog on the ice." After several passes at the dog, who shied away from the loud motor, Kostura finally was able to get him close to the airboat. "He wanted to be rescued -- he put his paws up on the side of the boat," Kostura described. "I put a box out there on the ground and he jumped onto the box and into the boat." Deuce then cowered in the hull until returned safely to the mainland, where Lucas was waiting. "I said his name, and he poked his little head out, then he just tackled me," said Lucas, who added he must have found fish and shelter out on the ice somewhere because he was neither hungry nor cold. Joe Kostura has had a busy year operating his airboats, which are based at Put-in-Bay. News Herald file said Joe Kostura, who initiated the dog rescue with one of his two airboats he owns for Hard Water Charters, a transportation company in the winter and fishing charter in the summer. "There are about a dozen on the island now, and at least four on the mainland that come out here now, too." The ordeal started for the four-month-old German shepherd/Labrador retriever mix, Deuce, on March 3 when he came home with his owner, 20-year-old Rachel Lucas, while she visited her parents on the peninsula. He ran away while playing at a neighbor's house that day, and though neighbor David Glovinsky kept telling Lucas he saw the pup out on the ice with binoculars, she could not spot him. That is until Wednesday afternoon, when she finally saw a dog a mile or more off the mainland chasing his tail. "That's how I knew it was him, he's chasing his tail constantly," said Lucas from her Bowling Green home this weekend. She tried calling several different agencies, but no one would take the chance out on the ice to cultivate a rescue operation. Glovinsky even donned cold water survival equipment and tried to walk out to coax Deuce in, but the puppy was skittish and ran away from him. A worker at Catawba Veterinary, however, knew of a charter captain who owned an airboat and also was an animal-lover: Joe Kostura of Hard Water Charters. He had just finished his last trip of the day bringing people and freight to and from the island when he received the call. "I had my father-in-law with me and I said c'mon, let's go and get these people's dog," Kostura said. "It took us about an hour to find him. "You would think it would be easy to spot a black-faced, brown-bodied dog on the ice." After several passes at the dog, who shied away from the loud motor, Kostura finally was able to get him close to the airboat. "He wanted to be rescued -- he put his paws up on the side of the boat," Kostura described. "I put a box out there on the ground and he jumped onto the box and into the boat." Deuce then cowered in the hull until returned safely to the mainland, where Lucas was waiting. "I said his name, and he poked his little head out, then he just tackled me," said Lucas, who added he must have found fish and shelter out on the ice somewhere because he was neither hungry nor cold.

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http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?Date=20030313&Category=NEWS17&ArtNo=103130137&Ref=AR

Fisherman survives hour in frigid lake

CATAWBA ISLAND, Ohio - A Niles, Mich., man who had been ice fishing on Lake Erie escaped serious injury last night after falling through the ice and spending almost an hour in the frigid water, the U.S. Coast Guard said.

Tony D. Camp, 20, who was about 100 yards off shore near North Surfside Drive on Catawba Island, was pulled to safety by the Catawba Island Fire Department.

He was treated at the scene and refused further treatment, the Coast Guard said.

He was one of four fishermen walking back toward shore about 7:20 p.m. when the incident occurred.

A person on shore saw what happened and alerted authorities. Rescue crews used the fire department’s rescue boat to get to Mr. Camp.

He was pulled from the water about 8:13 p.m., the Coast Guard said.

The other three men made it to shore unhurt, the Coast Guard said.

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http://www.record-eagle.com/2003/mar/09search.htm

March 9, 2003

Anglers rescued from ice on bay

SUTTONS BAY - Dozens of area firefighters took part in a search for five lost ice fishermen on West Grand Traverse Bay Saturday, who were found cold but safe in the late afternoon.
Authorities received a cell phone call shortly after 2 p.m. from a group of ice fishermen who became disoriented in the blowing snow and couldn't find their way back to shore, according to Suttons Bay-Bingham fire chief Bill Calhoun.
"It was blowing and they couldn't see land in any direction," the chief said. "They kind of went around in circles for awhile and ended up quite a bit further out on the ice than they meant to be."
Rescue personnel set up on shore near M-22 and Bingham Road, and a team of 8-10 searchers spread out on the ice to conduct the search, Calhoun said. They used mobile satellite equipment and kept in contact by cell phone with the group, which included three men and two teenage boys. They were found shortly before 5 p.m.
More than 50 county firefighters responded to the scene as part of the county's multi-department search and rescue team. "Everybody worked well together," said the chief, who reported no serious injuries.