“They were about to pack up and leave when they saw a fisherman, walking back to shore, fall through the ice,” an official tells PEOPLE
King County Sheriff’s Office
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- The King County Sheriff’s Office Marine Unit (KCSO) and the Mercer Island Police Dive squad rescued a man who fell through the ice at Fish Lake in Chelan County, Wash.
- A KCSO spokesperson told PEOPLE that the rescue teams witnessed the fall in real-time because they were at Fish Lake participating in a training session
- “Right place, right time,” Sgt. Rich Barton said of the rescue
A rescue mission for a man who fell through an icy lake got off to a very quick start thanks to the nearby location of a rescue team.
On Feb. 3 at Fish Lake in Chelan County, Wash., the King County Sheriff’s Office (KCSO) Marine Unit and the Mercer Island Police Dive squad were taking part in an annual diving and ice rescue training session when they witnessed the person fall into the ice.
“They were about to pack up and leave when they saw a fisherman, walking back to shore, fall through the ice,” a KCSO spokesperson told PEOPLE in a statement. “There were two people with him and the team says if they had tried to help all would have fallen through the ice.”
King County Sheriff’s Office
KCSO noted that the water and air temperature was about 35 degrees, adding that rescue personnel initially tried to use a rescue tube and then a rescue boogie board to save the man.
“Three deputies reached him — they tried the rescue tube, but the ice was breaking all around them so they couldn’t get him onto the ice surface,” KCSO said.
The spokesperson continued, “They switched to the rescue boogie board — and then the rest of the team still on the dock was able to pull him onto the ice’s surface.”
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King County Sheriff’s Office
Once rescued, the man was placed in a warm cabin, where an emergency medical technician assessed his health.
“He was cold but okay and was able to drive home,” KCSO told PEOPLE, adding that a sergeant explained that “if they hadn’t been there and someone called 911 it likely would have taken the better part of an hour for emergency crews to arrive and plan for a rescue.”
Sgt. Rich Barton told local outlet KOMO News, “Right place, right time.”
“I mean, if we had not been there, you would have been reporting on a different outcome,” the sergeant said.
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