Teens rescued from Cedar Hill pond after falling through ice into deep water

By Jenna Rae

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    CEDAR Hill, Missouri (KMOV) — A lucky, but dangerous rescue was made by a Jefferson County man Monday after two teens plummeted into freezing water in Cedar Hill.

Monday afternoon, Cedar Hill Fire Protection District was called out to a neighborhood pond near Kent Drive and Highway NN.

“The water in some of these bodies and lakes and stuff is still fairly warm, so they’re not freezing like you would think,” Fire Chief Mick Fischer said.

That’s the case for the pond the teens tried to walk out on Monday. Ice shards, boots and a gaping hole remain on the pond where first responders said an afternoon of playing could have quickly turned deadly.

“They were just walking out on the ice and from what I can tell, what I saw, they got about 20 yards out on this lake and the ice was thinner out there with the weather we’ve had, and they fell through,” Fischer explained.

After the adult on scene called 911, Fischer said they went in to rescue the two teens.

“He actually kind of belly crawled out as far as he could towards them, and as he got closer he fell through too,” Fischer said.

It’s an incident first responders train for, but something they said they rarely respond to. They’re warning people about frozen water after the extremely warm temperatures we’ve seen this winter. Fischer said the teens and adult made it out of the pond safely. He recommends no one to ever enter the water for a rescue. However, if you absolutely have to, he said call 911 first. Then, make sure you stay close to the shore, have an object you can hang on to, and then another object like a boat or stick to toss to the victim.

“It’s human nature to want to help people. You just got to use good judgement,” Fischer said.

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