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- Firefighters caution against getting onto thinning ice after a recent Stansbury Lake rescue.
- A man fell through the ice trying to save his dog but was rescued safely on Saturday.
- Officials advise calling 911 for pet rescues to avoid risking personal safety.
TOOELE — Firefighters were urging caution around lakes, ponds, and other bodies of water with icy surfaces after a man fell through the ice at Stansbury Lake Saturday night.
North Tooele Fire District firefighters, deputies from the Tooele County Sheriff's Office and a Utah Department of Natural Resources worker responded after 11:30 p.m. to an area behind a home where the man had reportedly tried to save his dog from the lake and had fallen through the ice himself.
"He had been in the water about 20 minutes," North Tooele Fire District spokesman Jon Smith said. "He was treading water at first trying to get out, and he was exerting a lot of energy trying to get himself back on the ice and that just breaks the ice further and, you know, once you go in, it's really, really difficult to get yourself out — especially when the ice is so thin."
Smith said the sheriff's deputy had a rope and was able to pull the man to safety.
Both the man and the dog were OK after warming up on-site, Smith said, and the man did not require a trip to the hospital.
"Obviously, if your pet goes in the water, your first natural instinct is to be, to go in the water and save the dog, or the cat," Smith said.
"What we would prefer you do is just dial 911. We will come out just as fast to rescue a dog. We will come out with the ice rescue gear, and we will do that for you. We would rather do that than have you put your own life at risk and for us to have to pull you out anyway."
The rescue came less than a week after a 14-year-old fell through the ice at a pond in Ogden and was later pronounced dead.
"We've had a recent story out of Ogden that was tragic," Smith said. "We had two fatalities last year in Tooele County that also involved people falling through the ice, so it's something we take very, very seriously."
Smith said firefighters train multiple times per year for ice rescues.
While he acknowledged some people are experienced at going out on the ice when it is solid, people should generally avoid iced-over bodies of water right now, particularly with temperatures warming in the coming days.
Smith said signs that an ice surface is unstable include if water is visible around the shoreline, if someone can see through the ice and if sections of the ice appear slushy on top.
"This time of year is treacherous," Smith said. "We're in that winter phase where people think the ice is solid and it just isn't."
