Credit: Nick Graham
Credit: Nick Graham
Though Middletown fire personnel have not completed an ice rescue in recent memory, Patton said nearby departments respond to ice rescues more often.
“It’s actually quite common,” Patton said. “You don’t always hear about it, but there are departments around us all the time getting on the ice, getting people out.”
Patton said animals often lead to emergencies because people walk onto the ice to retrieve a pet and end up in danger themselves.
Credit: Nick Graham
Credit: Nick Graham
In December, the bodies of a Mason man, identified as 36-year-old Sun Yue, and two dogs were found in a pond at VOA MetroPark. West Chester Twp. Fire Chief Rick Prinz said crews had to cut ice with an axe and sledgehammer in order to get to and remove the man’s body. Another water rescue was completed Jan. 19 in West Chester Twp.
Middletown fire can respond to mutual aid calls for ice rescue when necessary, but there is also a countywide rescue team that can be called.
Patton advised people to stay off any ice because its thickness can’t be reliably judged just by looking at it.
“That’s our fear,” he said. “They don’t know, they don’t realize they go out on it, and that’s when problems happen.”
Credit: Nick Graham
Credit: Nick Graham
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