FDNY, NYPD perform frigid water rescue saving two children from frozen pond in Queens
JAMAICA, Queens (WABC) -- Firefighters and police officers performed a frigid water rescue in Queens saving the lives of two children.
When first responders arrived they saw a 16-year-old girl and 12-year-old boy surrounded by ice in the pond at Baisley Pond Park Queens.
Firefighter John Fils Aime and Probationary Firefighter Conor O'Malley suited up in their cold-water rescue suits and entered the freezing water.
Members of NYPD ESU Truck 9 also entered the water to help the firefighters break through the ice.
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Firefighters on land used a ladder to cut thought the ice while Aime and O'Malley used it to maneuver around the ice to reach the children.
Once the kids were secured with buoyant life rings they were pulled to safety.
Battalion Chief Chris Paolicelli said the successful rescue reflects the constant training firefighters do to prepare for any situation.
"Every roll call we have a designated member who is assigned the water rescue position," said O'Malley. "When the alarm went off I immediately began to put on my cold-water rescue suit. When we got on scene myself and Firefighter Fils Aime along with members of NYPD ESU Truck 9 entered the water. It was a group effort among the members on land and the members in the water to achieve a positive outcome for the individuals."
The two children were transported to Jamaica Hospital for hypothermia.
Firefighters have been working double time this winter extinguishing fires all over the city, like the massive blaze in the Bronx that killed 19 people.
Deputy Chief Gene Ditaranto urged the public to stay off of frozen bodies of water to avoid unnecessary dangerous situations.
"You're gonna go to all these parks, there will be ponds there will be bodies of water," said Ditaranto. "You don't know the thickness of that ice the stability of that ice."
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