After hanging onto a dead tree after ice began to crack on a lake in Arizona, two teens were rescued on Wednesday Jan. 3.
The Associated Press reported that a third teenager had stayed on land near Fool Hollow Lake and called for help while the other two hung onto the tree for two hours.
The boys were rescued by firefighters who crawled across the lake with a rope that was attached to a boat carrying other firefighters. The teens got into the boat and were pulled to safety.
The teenagers were taken to the hospital for mild hypothermia., "Their hands and feet got pretty cold," said Brent Mix the Show Low Fire District Captain to the AP. "It was dark by the time we got them to shore."
A spokesman for the Lakeside Fire District, Kirk Webb, noted to the AP that it can be very dangerous to try and walk on ice in Arizona, because temperatures aren't usually cold enough to freeze lakes solid.
"Every once in a while we have kids trying to see how far out they can go," Mix said to the AP. "That was pretty foolish. There was probably an inch of ice in the middle of the lake."
The Arizona Republic reported that Mix said that when the rescue began it was 27 degrees and by the time the teenagers got to safety it was 22 degrees.
"The incident involved three engine companies, four chief officers, two medic units, a Navajo County deputy, and two park rangers, adding up to 25 personnel in all," reported The Arizona Republic.
This article is copyrighted by Travelers Today, the travel news leader
