Fort Atkinson Fire Department responds to ice rescue
INCIDENT REPORT
3/2/2023 2044 HRS.
FOR PUBLIC RELEASE
On March 2, at 2044 hrs. (8:44 PM) The Fort Atkinson Fire Department was alerted to a water rescue on Lake Koshkonong near Cow Path Lane. This area is six miles SW of the City of Fort Atkinson.
Initial reports were of two subjects in the water with one subject trapped under water. The on-duty crew was immediately dispatched with an engine company and ambulance. The volunteer firefighters were also alerted, and ten volunteer FAFD members and off-duty career staff also responded.
The duty crew arrived at the shoreline near the scene at 2053 hrs. One patient had made it out of the water and had reached shore on their own. The second subject could be heard calling for help on the lake. Crews were able to make their way out onto the ice very quickly and access the subject who was clinging to the edge of the ice in a hole approximately 200 yards from shore. The patient was rescued from the water and pulled onto the ice by the initial response crew.
Upon arrival of the secondary units, an RDC (Rapid Deployment Craft) was deployed and the subject in the lake was extricated from the water and transported to shore, treated by FAFD Paramedics, and ultimately transported to Mercy Hospital in Janesville.
While enroute to the scene the on-duty shift commander also requested a MABAS water rescue box which included units from Janesville, Edgerton, Milton, Johnson Creek and Lake Mills. The request was canceled before mutual aid units arrived once both patients were accounted for and removed from the lake.
In this case the nine-minute response to the scene by career staffing, provided through the 2022 Public Safety Referendum, the support of our volunteer and off-duty members and the rescue equipment (RDC) purchased by the Fort Atkinson Firefighters Association through fundraising made a successful outcome possible.
No firefighters were injured during the incident and both patients are expected to make a full recovery.
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