Firefighters rescue dog from frozen Bucks County lake on Christmas
"They're coming out to save him," the dog's owner said on his video recording of the rescue. "This way, boy!"
QUAKERTOWN, Pennsylvania (WPVI) -- Volunteers from a Bucks County fire department are being hailed as heroes for rescuing a dog from a frozen lake on Christmas Day.
Dan Daccardi says he had taken his 65-pound black lab, Jack, to Brickyard Pond in Quakertown to use the bathroom before a long car ride.
Jack started chasing a flock of ducks onto the ice and ran so far that he fell into the frozen water.
"They're coming out to save him," Daccardi said on his video recording of the rescue. "This way, boy!" he hollered at Jack.
Daccardi and his wife had called 911 after Jack went into the water, bringing out the water rescue team from Quakertown Fire Department.
Two engines' worth of volunteers came equipped with wet suits and rubber rafts to push out onto the lake.
Daccardi says Jack had likely been in the lake for about half an hour by the time firefighters reached him. At that point, they were worried time was running out.
"That's when we're thinking hypothermia like, 'please God, please get him out,'" said Daccardi.
"Thank you, Lord. He's up! He's in the boat!" Daccardi exclaimed as Lt. Andrew Snyder and firefighter Dylan Winters safely pulled Jack out of the water.
"He's our joy. We were worried there about him for a while, but he's fine now," said Daccardi.
Two days after the scare, Jack is back safe and happy in his home.
"It was not your normal call for us," said firefighter Collin Reinhart, who responded to the call. He says he's grateful his squad was properly equipped for the call.
"This worked out perfectly for the ice," he said of the rubber boat. "Able to slide it across the ice because it was pretty thick once we left the shoreline."
"It's the essence of firefighters and just the volunteer fire service, we're all willing to set aside what we're doing regardless of what it is, time with families, jobs, what it is, to jump and call when it's needed," Reinhart said.
The department is hoping everyone takes a lesson from this incident to not venture out onto lakes that look frozen this winter.
