Two rescued after falling through thinning ice at Mantua Reservoir

Officer Caleb Hathcock with Mantua Police Department said a witness saw a man and woman fall through the ice at the same time around 1:25 p.m.

 

“They were out here with their friends, fishing, just trying to enjoy a good afternoon on the reservoir, and obviously that took a little bit of a turn for them,” Hathcock said.

 

Officers deployed flotation devices.

 

Mantua Fire Captain Jen Packer said police helped get one person out of the water before her crew arrived.

 

“You can see the throwing discs that are out there sitting on the ice still, throwing discs that they catch,” Packer said. “We helped pull them in and help them to roll in on their stomachs after that, so that we don’t have any further breakage of the ice”

 

Hathcock said the man and woman were likely in the water around 10 minutes.

 

“Their skin was red,” Packer said. “Our first plan of action was to get the medical kit and make sure that we had some blankets so that we could help them as they were out, helped get some of the wet clothing off, and then get them wrapped in blankets.”

 

Police said once they were warmed up, they were medically cleared and left the reservoir on their own.

 

Packer said they try to avoid sending first responders onto the ice. It’s extremely dangerous for anyone to be out there; the risk of falling through is high.

 

“Whether you want to ice skate, whether you want to ice fish, somehow you need to make sure whether you’re drilling a hole at that ice is four inches thick,” she said. “Once it’s eight inches thick, then you can take a snowmobile out on it.”

 

Police strongly urge people to stay off the ice as the weather gets warmer.

 

“We understand the desire to ice fish is there, but it’s not worth the potential of getting injured or possibly worse,” police said.

 

The department also thanked witnesses who helped with the rescue, calling them “true heroes.”