Rescuers use ingenuity to pull 2 men from area lake

Firefighters rescued two men Saturday from the icy waters of the man-made lake in Northmoreland Park in Allegheny Township, Westmoreland County, after the raft in which they were floating deflated.

Jim Rearick, fire chief of the Markle Volunteer Fire Department, said the young men, ages 18 and 19 and believed to be from the Vandegrift area, were able to walk and talk after their 30 minutes or so in the frigid waters. A regional water rescue team was on its way to the scene when Markle firefighters made the rescue using some ingenuity. The rescued men were transported by ambulance to Forbes Regional Hospital in Monroeville for examination after their ordeal.

The incident began when a person walking the trail around the lake noticed the young men in the water and called 911 at about 12:25 p.m. A companion of the two men, who did not go with them into the approximately 5-foot-long raft, had tried to call 911 to report the emergency but couldn’t get cell service, he later told authorities. Chief Rearick speculated that the raft deflated after it was punctured or sliced by ice on the lake.

Chief Rearick, who was on the scene, said firefighters attempted to throw 100-foot rescue ropes attached to weighed bags to the men, who were holding on to the raft, which was still buoyant enough to float. The rescue ropes were just short of the young men, who were near the middle of the lake, he said.

Undeterred, the rescuers devised a new plan.

“The park has a boat but it was chained and we didn’t have a key, so we cut the chain. One of my guys, who is certified in ice rescue, got into his dry suit and into the boat, which we tied to a rope. He had to use a shovel [from our service truck] for a paddle because there wasn’t one,” Chief Rearick said.

Once he got to the young men, the firefighter pulled the lighter one into the boat and then, with a little more effort, was able to do the same with the other young man. The firefighters on shore then pulled the boat in with the rope attached to it.

“It worked better than using a shovel for a paddle,” Chief Rearick said. “We were able to get them to shore and they were talking. They weren’t dressed for winter. One of them had a light jacket that he had taken off. They were probably in the water for a good half hour by the time we got down there and got them out.

“They were quite cold. The concern was that they had been in the water that long. You have to make sure they’re OK, but they were able to walk out of the boat and up to the ambulance.”

Recreational canoeing and kayaking is permitted on the 17-acre lake but only from May 1 through Oct. 31. Chief Rearick said it was the first winter rescue of people in the lake in his memory.

“I wasn’t expecting it. I originally thought it was a car that went into the lake because there’s a road right there.”

Why were the young men on a tiny raft in a lake partially covered with ice in the first place?

“They were not being very smart,” was all that Chief Rearick could offer.