Firefighters rescue boy who had fallen through ice in Downers Grove

A boy was rescued Tuesday after he fell through ice on a neighborhood pond in Downers Grove, fire officials said.

Firefighters responded to a 911 call around 3:35 p.m., and when they arrived at the pond in a neighborhood at 7100 Dexter Road, they found the boy, who had fallen through the ice, trying “to stay afloat by staying on his back,” according to a news release.

Firefighters were able to bring the boy to shore within five minutes, officials said.

“When they got him out, he was conscious, but by the time they got to him, he had stopped moving around, which meant that his body was kind of starting to shut down, and he really didn't have a whole lot more time before he probably would have gone under,” Downers Grove Fire Department Public Information Officer Marsha Giesler said.

He also was able to talk to paramedics, she added. The boy was taken to Good Samaritan Hospital.

“I'm very proud of the work that our firefighters did,” Giesler said. “They need to get their equipment out on the ice, in the right way, to be able to do this so quickly and efficiently and yet at the same time we have to make sure that they stay safe...”

“Because they've practiced these techniques so many times, they were able to do it,” Giesler said. “And of course...the thing we're happiest about is that they were able to rescue him before he went under and that this whole call has a good outcome tonight.”

The Downers Grove fire and police departments were assisted by the Lisle-Woodridge Fire Protection District.