An 11-year-old boy had to be rescued after he fell through the icy surface of a pond inside a Queens park Friday, according to cops and firefighters.
The boy plummeted into the frigid waters at Springfield Park near Springfield Blvd. and 146th Ave. just before 3 p.m., according to police.
The firefighters of Engine 311 and Ladder 158, whose firehouse is located next to the park, were coincidentally wrapping up specialized ice-water-rescue training when some local kids rushed in through their doors pleading for help for the freezing child, said FDNY Assistant Deputy Chief Tim Keenan.
The smoke eaters grabbed tethered ropes and ice picks, while probationary Firefighter Shaun McMahon — designated “Rescue Swimmer 1” for the operation — donned a cold-water suit.
Trying to keep from falling through the ice himself, McMahon lay flat on the pond’s frozen surface and used his ice pick to slide toward the boy.
“When a child falls through the ice, we know there’s a risk for us to fall through the ice, as well,” Keenan said.
Despite his best efforts, McMahon proved too heavy for the ice and fell into the pond about halfway to the boy, he said.
“It was definitely cold,” the firefighter said. “Regardless if I was cold or not, he was even colder.”
With the water too deep for him to stand, McMahon swam out to the boy, before signaling to his partner to reel him in. But the pair ran into trouble after being pulled back to the ice shelf, where McMahon was unable to clamber back onto the pond’s icy surface, forcing the firefighter to smash his way through the ice back to shore with help from his partner.
The boy was taken to a local hospital in stable condition.
Firefighters also pulled another boy from the pond who was closer to shore, according to McMahon.
“He went in to toss a ladder to help his friend,” the probie said. “He was assisted out. The other one had to be rescued.”
The heroics at Springfield Park followed another Queens ice rescue after three 22-year-old men fell through ice the into Jamaica Bay on Feb. 6.
Video captured from a rescue chopper hovering above the bay showed the NYPD’s frogmen in action, with multiple divers carefully crawling across the ice and plunging into the frigid waters to attach the victims to tethers, before helicopters airlifted them to safety.
The Fire Department released a public service announcement on YouTube Friday evening advising New Yorkers to stay off the ice.
“We’ve been doing a lot of public messaging about the dangers of ice,” Keenan said. “No ice is safe ice. We need to continue talking about the danger of going out on ice, especially now as it’s warming up. It’s a dangerous situation.”
