Two dogs are lucky to be alive after falling through the ice on Vaseux Lake in Oliver on Jan. 25.
The Okanagan Falls volunteer fire department was called to the popular lake around 4:30 p.m. on Monday for two dogs trapped about 500 feet from shore.
Once firefighters arrived, the dogs had managed to get closer, to about 150 feet from shore where they had fallen through the ice and were starting to get into an urgent situation, said Okanagan Falls fire chief Fred Dobransky.
“Good Samaritans went in two canoes and punched a channel through the ice to get the dogs. They grabbed the dogs and brought them back to our crew. We wrapped them in blankets and got them back to their owners,” he said.
“It was a happy ending for sure but one of the dogs almost didn’t make it because the water was so cold. Thanks to those Good Samaritans and their quick actions the dogs made it,” he added.
Search and Rescue was on standby while firefighters stood at the shore if there was any mishap during the rescue, Dobransky said.
Vaseux Lake is shallow and often freezes over, but with this milder winter we are having, it can be dangerous with thin ice, he added.
READ MORE: Women of the ’30s brave cliffs above Vaseux Lake
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