Two OK after rescue from ice in Lindenhurst

An ice fisherman and a good Samaritan were rescued Saturday afternoon after they fell through the ice at Lake Linden in Lindenhurst, authorities said.

Lake Villa Fire Department Shift Cmdr. Bill Chebny said authorities were called at about 2:30 p.m. to Sprucewood and Witchwood Lanes and found the fisherman and a woman — both estimated to be in their 50s — standing in about 4 feet of frigid water.

“They couldn’t get out by themselves. They were too cold,” Chebny said.

Rescue crews put on special ice rescue suits, entered the water and used a board attached to a rope to pull each to safety.

Chebny said the man was fishing on a bucket and the woman, who lived a short distance away, went to help him and also broke through the ice.

The man was pulled out first and had been in the water for an estimated 15 minutes; the woman was pulled out second because she had not been in the water as long.

Chebny said six minutes elapsed from when authorities arrived on the scene to when the man was pulled from the ice.

“It was a very quick rescue. Everything went well,” he said.

The fisherman was taken to Advocate Condell Medical Center in Libertyville, and the woman was treated and released at the scene, Chebny said. The man’s condition was not immediately available.

“(The ice) was thicker a week ago, but with the 60 degree weather, it thinned up pretty good. It’s right now an inch, 2 inches — definitely not thick enough to be on,” he said.