Early Morning Rescue On Taunton Lake
UPDATE: This story has been updated to include the names of first responders.
Shortly after 7 am Friday, January 18, first responders were dispatched to the area of 84 Taunton Lake Road, after a bus driver reported what they thought was a dog on the ice approximately 100 yards from shore. A police officer who arrived at the scene then reported that it was a deer that had gone through the ice.
Hook & Ladder and NUSAR were the first companies sent to the area, with Hook & Ladder officer Jason Shuttleworth taking command of the incident. Hawleyville and Dodgingtown fire companies were also dispatched, for additional manpower. Newtown Animal Control was also contacted.
Outfitted in cold water gear and attached by ropes to the dock at 75 Taunton Lake Road that served as the command post, according to a witness, a pair of firefighters were able to work their way across the partially frozen pond and reach the deer in distress. They were able to reach, and then pull the deer out of the water. They then pulled the deer across the ice, to the shore.
First responders cleared from the scene shortly before 8 am.
Hook & Ladder firefighters David White and Tarren Horvath gently move a deer away from the hole in the ice into which the animal had fallen, while other rescue workers look on from the dock. (Julie vanderKroef photo)
A very wet — and most likely, relieved — deer is released from the collar of a rescue pole as rescuers David White and Tarren Horvath bring it near the shore, after it fell through Taunton Lake on January 18. (Julie vanderKroef photo)