HUNTINGDON, CENTRE COUNTY - After two men nearly drown after falling through an icy lake in Clearfield County, other local firemen are training for future ice rescues.
It's a cool, brisk morning in Huntingdon County Sunday, where eleven firemen from three local departments are practicing for ice rescues.
"It's taught us a lot about different scenarios you have to deal with when the weather gets colder, with the water freezing," Kyle Wise said. "You never know what you're going to run into."
After last week's incident in Curwensville, these firefighters want to make sure they're prepared.
"It's just a whole different experience to be on a rescue and then be a victim where you have to put your life in someone else's hands," Wise said.
Dressed in bright orange, waterproof suits, the training begins. If it looks hard, that's because it is.
"We're doing low-risk to high-risk rescues, performing them and exercising and getting familiar with the equipment we have," Instructor Todd Stahl said.
There are many factors that go into an ice rescue, including the temperature, winds and weather, all factors that can make a rescue more complicated. But believe it or not, Stahl says the most common time for ice rescue isn't when the weather is freezing.
"The times we have the calls is when the warm temperatures, the rain, thawing out," he said. "Again, freezing, and the ice is getting weak and refreezing. Later in the year is when we'll have the rescues."
It's a cool, brisk morning in Huntingdon County Sunday, where eleven firemen from three local departments are practicing for ice rescues.
"It's taught us a lot about different scenarios you have to deal with when the weather gets colder, with the water freezing," Kyle Wise said. "You never know what you're going to run into."
After last week's incident in Curwensville, these firefighters want to make sure they're prepared.
"It's just a whole different experience to be on a rescue and then be a victim where you have to put your life in someone else's hands," Wise said.
Dressed in bright orange, waterproof suits, the training begins. If it looks hard, that's because it is.
"We're doing low-risk to high-risk rescues, performing them and exercising and getting familiar with the equipment we have," Instructor Todd Stahl said.
There are many factors that go into an ice rescue, including the temperature, winds and weather, all factors that can make a rescue more complicated. But believe it or not, Stahl says the most common time for ice rescue isn't when the weather is freezing.
"The times we have the calls is when the warm temperatures, the rain, thawing out," he said. "Again, freezing, and the ice is getting weak and refreezing. Later in the year is when we'll have the rescues."
