Crews in three Connecticut towns rescued four people who fell through the ice this afternoon.
Police said a man fell through the ice on a lake in Ashford and two teens were taken to the emergency room at Stamford Hospital after falling through the ice in the Riverside section of Greenwich this afternoon.
A 70-year-old man was taken to Yale-New Haven Hospital after falling through the ice at Lake Phipps in West Haven this morning.
The man who fell through the ice in West Haven had been testing to see if it was safe for children to ice skate, according to West Haven Deputy Fire Chief Scott Schwartz.
Officials said the man was in the water for about 15 minutes and was conscious when crews reached him. They used a small boat to retrieve him about 15 feet from shore, fire officials said.
The man has been taken to Yale-new Haven Hospital for an evaluation.
In Ashford, a woman ran to the rescue of the man on Ashford Lake when she noticed he had fallen into the water. He was 50 feet from shore, but the lake was shallow enough for the man to keep his head above the ice, authorities said.
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The resident who spotted him had a neighbor call 911 while she ran to the man, launched a pedal boat across the ice and got him to hang onto it, officials said.
The neighbor's husband then got a long pole to get the man out of the water into the pedal boat. Firefighters also threw them a rope and hauled them in.
Greenwich emergency crews also rescued two teens who fell through the ice near 73 Willowmere Circle in Riverside.
Police said via Twitter the teens "engaged in risky behavior walking out onto thin ice in Riverside."
Two teens engaged in risky behavior walking out onto thin ice in Riverside. They fell through and had to be rescued pic.twitter.com/I9CrcBjzBP — Greenwich PD PIO (@GreenwichCTPD) January 23, 2014
The teens, who had fallen completely through into the water, managed to climb out on their own but were too cold and scared to move, according to the fire department.
Fire officials rescued the teens, who were taken to the hospital and have since been released to their parents, officials said.
