NIAGARA FALLS -- A 70-year-old man died Wednesday night after being pulled from the frigid waters of Hyde Park Lake.
The man had been walking his three dogs in the area about 2:30 p.m. and apparently chased one or more of the dogs onto the frozen lake when he fell through the thin ice.
Falls police Superintendent John Chella said the man was under the ice for "multiple minutes."
Niagara Falls Fire Battalion Chief Dan Boland was the first in the water and pulled the man ashore with the help of Fire Capt. Jason Zona.
Chella said emergency crews started resuscitation attempts once the man was ashore until he could be taken to Niagara Falls Memorial Medical Center by ambulance. He was pronounced dead about 6 p.m. Wednesday.
Chella said the man's name would not be released until relatives, who live out of the area, can be contacted.
Falls Police Capt. David Legault said two youths witnessed the man go out onto the ice after a dog.
"First, they saw the dog break through the ice. And then they saw the man trying to get the dog back. And they saw him break through the ice and go underwater as well," he said. "So the two boys ran for help. They called 911."
The lake, which Legault guessed to be about 15 to 20 feet deep, is not completely covered in ice. But it's still dangerously cold, Legault said.
"It's very dangerous," Legault said of being in the water. "The temperature, I would guess, is about 34 to 37 degrees right now."
After firefighters and police retrieved the man, Legault said, they searched the water for anyone else but did not find anything.
The three dogs survived and were taken by the SPCA of Niagara.
Copyright 2012 - Tonawanda News, North Tonawanda, N.Y.
McClatchy-Tribune News Service
