By Mike Chapman
Record Searchlight
McARTHUR, Calif. — Three men who fell through the ice at Big Lake near McArthur on Saturday evening were taken to Mayers Memorial Hospital in Fall River Mills.
Their conditions were unavailable, although one man who was able to pull himself out of the icy water was believed to be suffering from hypothermia, McArthur Volunteer Fire Department Chief Pat Oilar said Saturday night.
The other two men apparently were submerged under the ice for prolonged periods of time - one for about 20 to 25 minutes and the other for about 50 minutes, Oilar said. Rescuers performed CPR on the two men before ambulances took them to the hospital.
The three men - all thought to be in their 30s and believed to be brothers - wound up in the water and ice after trying to get a dog that went through the ice first. “That was my understanding,” Oilar said. It’s also the chief’s understanding that the dog survived.
Oilar credited Jeff Stackhouse of McArthur for assisting in retrieving two of the men.
“He was key in the rescue,” Oilar said.
Stackhouse had been hunting in the area, but unloaded his boat from a trailer to take several McArthur fire department volunteers on the lake to find the two men.
The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection was called at 5:22 p.m. to help three men who went through the ice at the Rat Farm boat launch, said Cal Fire Capt. Ed Almeda.
Assisting at the scene were firefighters from Cal Fire, the McArthur and Fall River fire departments and the Shasta County Sheriff’s Office.
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