CLEARFIELD, Utah, Jan. 14, 2024 (Gephardt Daily) — When North Davis Fire crews got a call about a dog fallen through pond ice, they took it as an opportunity:
- To save the dog.
- To keep the owner and bystanders from jumping in Clearfield‘s Steed Pond.
- To train for a future ice rescue when the stakes might be even higher.
The call came in at about 1 p.m., Dave Youngberg, North Davis Fire Battalion Chief, told Gephardt Daily.
“We were paged out to one of our city ponds that was halfway frozen over,” Youngberg said. “And there was a dog that went out and was in the middle of the water, but it couldn’t get back out where it was frozen. Our crews were called in to help rescue the dog.”
Dog rescues aren’t always a top priority, but Youngberg had the crew and saw the incident as a good training opportunity.
“We took all the emergency steps. We put ladders down, we sent a person out who was able to enter the water and restrain the dog, and we were able to bring them both back, nice and secure.”
One of the two did suffer a bite.
“The rescuer got bit when he was trying to do the recovery because, of course, the dog was quite scared,” Youngberg said, adding the rescued party appeared to be a black lab.
“It wasn’t like the dog was lashing out or mean, it was just kind of defending itself when the rescuer went in. (The rescuer) got bit a little bit, but he’s doing good, and we’re taking care of the fireman at this time here at the station,” Youngberg said at about 2 p.m.
The dog was returned to the care of its owner, who was the one who called dispatch. Youngberg said he was grateful she called 911 rather than enter the pond herself. Animal control plans a follow-up call, he said.
The crew was debriefing after the incident to determine what it could have done faster or better.
“We just got there, and we got busy, and we took care of it,” Youngberg said. “Even though it was a dog, we treated it like it could have been a person, and we treated a full speed operation. It was a great training opportunity.”
