Associated Press
SHOW LOW, Ariz. — Two teenagers were rescued after spending two frigid hours hanging onto a dead tree after ice on an Arizona lake began to crack, authorities said Thursday.
A third teen who had stayed on the snow-covered bank of Fool Hollow Lake called for help while the other two clung to the tree, authorities said.
Each of the two stranded teenagers lost a shoe that got stuck to the ice. They were taken to a hospital for treatment of mild hypothermia after being rescued Wednesday, Show Low Fire District Capt. Brent Mix said.
“Their hands and feet got pretty cold,” Mix said. “It was dark by the time we got them to shore.”
The boys were rescued after a firefighter in a protective suit crawled across the lake with a rope that was used to pull a boat carrying two other firefighters.
The teens got in the boat, and it was pulled to shore, Mix said.
It can be particularly dangerous to try to walk on ice on Arizona lakes because temperatures usually don’t get cold enough for the ice to freeze solidly, said Kirk Webb, a spokesman for the Lakeside Fire District.
“Every once in a while we have kids trying to see how far out they can go,” Mix said. “That was pretty foolish. There was probably an inch of ice in the middle of the lake.”
It was 27 degrees when the call for help was made, and 22 degrees by the time the rescue was completed after sunset.