Woman rescued after falling through ice in Des Plaines

A woman and her dog were rescued by the Des Plaines Fire Department after she fell through the ice in Lake Opeka Park Wednesday afternoon, officials said.

Des Plaines Fire Department Battalion Chief Bob Ward said the unidentified woman was walking her dog in the park when it somehow got free of the woman and ran out onto the lake. He said the woman chased the dog, and made it about 200 feet out, before the inch-thick ice gave way and the two plunged into the water.

Witnesses contacted the fire department, Ward said, but the woman had managed to get out of the water before rescuers arrived on the scene.

He said a rescuer wearing a special suit and carrying a rope was able to walk out onto the ice to reach the woman. Ward said, during the walk out there, the woman had recaptured the dog and pulled it out of the water.

Officers on shore pulled the woman the dog, and the rescuer off the lake without further issues.

“While it has been cold, many lakes are not frozen through yet, so people should use caution before going out on the ice,” Ward said.