Massachusetts firefighters rescue dog within 5 minutes after it fell into icy pond

Firefighters in Maynard, Massachusetts rushed into action to save a dog that fell through the ice and into a frigid pond. Fortunately for the dog, rescuers were located just steps away and were able to bring him to safety within five minutes.

Just after 9 p.m., a call came in for a dog through the ice at Mill Pond on Sudbury Street.

Maynard Fire Cpt. Travis Gross said there was one bit of good news. Mill Pond is located directly across the parking lot from the fire station.

Maynard ice rescue

Gross said that firefighters pulled the dog, named Rufus, from the icy water within about five minutes of receiving the initial call.

"You don't have a lot of time to think about it in the moment," Gross said.

Through police, Rufus' owner said in a statement that while loading his dogs into the car after their evening walk, his other dog Maverick saw several geese and gave chase. Rufus ran after Maverick, slipped into the large hole and was unable to pull himself up.

Fortunately, nearby firefighters had just completed ice rescue training about a month ago.

"We do a tremendous amount of ice water rescue training every year. It's one of those things that you get to train a lot on but you never get to execute on. But I think everyone jumped into that mode of knowing exactly what to do," Gross said.

Firefighter Keagan Sheridan was the person who put on a cold water protection suit and went into the pond.

"The dog was pretty calm. He wasn't panicking much," Sheridan said. "We got there and his head was resting on the ice shelf. He was keeping his head above water, that way he could keep breathing. Once we got to him, he kept calm and didn't try to kick at us. He was very calm and collected."

Dog's owners thank first responders

Once Rufus was out of the water, he shook off his fur and ran to his owner, who had the car running so he could warm up is four-legged friend.

Rufus' owners said they are "forever grateful" for the firefighters and police officers who responded. They said Rufus is doing fine, and returned home to a bath, warm blankets, and extra treats.

"It's important that families recognize incidents like these can happen in just a few seconds. As a reminder to everyone, please keep your dogs leashed," the dog owners said. "If your dog or another family member falls through ice, call 911 immediately. Don't endanger yourself and attempt to walk onto the ice, you may fall in yourself. We love our town, our loving neighbors who've reached out with a kind word, and especially our first responders. We truly can't thank them enough."

"There's no such thing as safe ice"

Gross said that most ice in Massachusetts is thick currently, but even in places where that's the case, there can be weak spots. At Mill Pond, it's not clear if the hole water discharge or if there was an intake device.

Sheridan said as a general rule, there's one thing people can keep in mind when they are inexperienced with ice.

"There's no such thing as safe ice. You don't know until you test it. So if you can keep off it, keep off it," he said.