Officials say an off-duty rookie firefighter, just hours before he received his badge, rescued a teenager after the boy and his mother fell through the ice into a frigid lake near Cary Tuesday.
The Cary Fire Protection District and McHenry County Sheriff’s Office responded around 4:38 p.m. Tuesday to the 6200 block of Londonderry Drive in unincorporated Cary for a report of a water rescue.
Cary Fire Protection District Public Information Officer Alex Vucha said 911 callers reported people calling out for help on Lake Killarney.
Two off-duty firefighters who were in the area arrived shortly after the initial dispatch.
They observed two people approximately 50-75 feet from shore who had fallen through the ice while attempting to go ice fishing, Vucha said.
Both victims were struggling to keep their heads above water.
Vucha said one of the off-duty firefighters, a probationary firefighter, entered the water through the ice and made a rescue of a teenage victim. The second off-duty firefighter remained on shore.
On-duty fire crews arrived moments later and began coordinated rescue operations to remove the remaining adult victim, who was the mother of the teenager, from the water.
Both victims were rescued within approximately eight minutes of the fire department’s arrival.
The off-duty firefighter who made the rescue did so just an hour before he and six other firefighters completed their probationary period and received their badges during a ceremony at Cary Fire Protection District Station #1, Vucha told Lake and McHenry County Scanner.
His brother was the second off-duty firefighter at the scene who assisted.
Vucha said a third person, who was a neighboring resident, had attempted to assist prior to the arrival of emergency crews and also fell through the ice.
He was able to self-rescue and return to shore on his own before being evaluated by paramedics.
The two initial victims and the neighbor were evaluated at the scene and transported to local hospitals with minor injuries, Vucha said. An update on their conditions was not available.
One of the two off-duty firefighters was evaluated at the scene but did not require transport. Fire crews left the scene by 5:45 p.m.
The Cary Fire Protection District said the McHenry County Sheriff’s Office, the Fox River Grove Fire Protection District, the Algonquin – Lake in the Hills Fire Protection District, the Nunda Rural Fire Protection District and 911 dispatchers assisted.
The fire district said they remind the public that ice conditions can change rapidly and are often unsafe even when they appear solid.