Firefighters practicing ice rescues suddenly have to save real-life victims

Missouri firefighters practicing ice rescues suddenly had to switch from training mode to a real-life rescue on Tuesday when two teenagers fell through the ice nearby. 

The Maryland Heights Fire Protection District was practicing ice water rescues on Creve Coeur Lake when members saw two teenagers running across the water, local station Fox2Now reported. 

“I glanced over and thought, ‘Yeah, that’s just an accident waiting to happen. And the minute I thought that, they dropped through the ice,” said Steve Rinehart, assistant chief of the department. 

”We went from a training mode to a rescue mode,” Rinehart said.

The crews got back into gear and jumped into action as the two teenagers struggled around 300 feet from shore, according to the local outlet. 

“We don’t have a lot of time. By the time we got out there … they were already losing their dexterity; they weren’t able to grab onto anything,” firefighter and paramedic David Herman, one of the men who rescued the teenagers, said. 

A drone crew was there and got an eye on the teenagers in the air while rescuers worked to get them to shore, with the ice breaking under the first responders.

“This is why we come out and train every year,” firefighter and EMT Jon Krueger told Fox2Now. “They have no traction, so they’re relying on people on the shore to pull them in.” 

The two teenagers went to the hospital after the incident, with the department again reminding residents to stay off the ice.