MERCER, Maine — A local woman was listed in good condition in a Skowhegan hospital Tuesday after falling through the ice trying to rescue a dog.
Norridgewock, Oakland and Smithfield fire departments responded to an emergency call of a dog on the ice on North Pond at 9:57 a.m. When the Norridgewock crew arrived, they saw a woman had attempted to rescue a dog, but fell into the water, said Lt. Jeff Jones of the Norridgewock Fire Department.
Tracy Scott, who lives near the area where she fell through the ice, was rushed by ambulance to Redington-Fairview General Hospital, said Jones.
“She was treated in the emergency room and is in good condition,” said a hospital spokeswoman Tuesday afternoon.
Jones said Scott had used a canoe to try to get to the dog.
“She was skateboarding the canoe on the ice — one foot in the canoe and one on the ice,” said Jones. “She ended up breaking the ice with the canoe.”
Scott went into the water, but Jones said the Norridgewock Fire Department didn’t have the equipment necessary to get her out.
“She went straight into the water. She climbed out and we had her lay on her stomach on the ice,” said Jones. “She was probably 250 feet off shore. We couldn’t risk ourselves to get her.”
The Oakland Fire Department did have the right tools for the job.
“We have the ice sled and all the ropes and suits [to do that sort of rescue],” said Oakland Assistant Chief Vaughn Farnham.
Scott spent 25 to 30 minutes on the ice and in the water before being rescued, said Norridgewock Assistant Chief Danny Lanctot.
“She was very cold and shivering out of control,” said Lanctot. “She knew that we were talking to her and everything. She was conscious.”
“She wasn’t doing too good when they got her out,” Farnham said. “They wrapped her up and put her right in the ambulance and they were gone.”
Farnham said the small breed dog died.
It was the second ice rescue in about two weeks involving a dog on the ice for the Oakland Fire Department, he said.
“That one turned out good for the dog,” said Farnham.
Jones warned people to call 911 if a dog wanders onto thin ice.
“Don’t go after your damn dog. It’s not worth it,” said Jones. “I love my dog, but I wouldn’t expect someone to die for my dog.”
Farnham echoed his firefighter brethren.
“Stay off the ice. Let the experts handle it,” said Oakland’s assistant chief. “Don’t try to save [the dog], because this is what’s going to happen. You’re going to go through the ice. We have the proper equipment and training.”
Lanctot said he was proud of the crews who worked together to save Scott from the freezing water.
“Smithfield and Oakland did a great job for us and we really appreciate their help,” he said.
Lucky, glad she is ok.
Sad for the dog but glad the woman is okay
Glad she is ok! I don’t think “DAMN dog” was necessary though. Poor dog..
Poor dog?
It’s a dog!
A damn dog!
It ain’t human!
YOU DON’T DIE TRYING TO SAVE A DAMN DOG!!!!!
Sometimes you need to use a little common sense.
“The more I know of humans, the better I like my dog.” Mark Twain
His real quote was lost in translation, it was:
The more I know of dogs, the less I like their human owners.
I agree with you 100% but sadly some people think a dogs life is more important than a humans.
This is the stuff from which they make movies: The wonderful little hero child who is run over while trying to save a dog in the middle of the road.
Many mature drivers made this decision long ago: If a dog jumps out into the road, am I going to hit a pole or run over the animal?
The humble Farmer
I’m going to run over the animal each and every time. A Moose is the only animal I might try to avoid. No animal is worth my life.
For her it wasn’t a damn dog. Her dog was a member of her family and that is what we animal lovers do. Yes, we go a bit extreme but that is part of our nature.
My daughter has a dog, she loves it very much but you know what. That dog is going to die within the next 10 years. She can then get another and that dog will also die within 10 to 20 years. She can then get another and so on.
My daughter cannot be replaced and I would be very upset with her if she ever took such drastic action to save her dog. A human life is never worth a pets life, ever. Think about the people that truly love you before you risk your life over a pet that can be replaced with ease.
Not at all I’m sure anticipating the outcome, this gal did what she felt she had to do to save her pet, a dog that she apparently had great affection for. Too bad it ended the way it did, but she knows she gave it her best shot. I’m not saying it was a smart thing to do, just a very human thing to do.
The dog should have been on a leash.
“The dog died …died , died …the dog died”
So sad to lose a small breed dog at this time of year.
It’s still a dog!!
A woman almost died trying to save the damn thing!
Hello all – this is ‘the damn dog’ guy
I don’t feel I really need to defend my comments any more than I would
need to sugar coat them to make it more acceptable or easier to
understand for everyone.
I will say this was taken after the fact – back at my ‘real job’ by telephone.
If you take them the wrong way – it’s not really something I can change nor do I feel it is my job to do so.
I do, however, respect your opinions here as you’re entitled to them.
I also completely respect and understand the honor/heroics in the actions of the woman going after her dog yesterday.
Whilethey, in the end, put multiple lives at risk – there’s is some honor in
what she attempted. It pains me that the results were not as anticipated. She is lucky to be alive.
You can, in hindsight, offer many scenarios that would have prevented the incident entirely. The fact is it happened and it unfortunately happens often with varying results.
The loss of a companion in which you have responsibility over is no doubt a very emotional thing to deal with. She acted out of love for this animal, again, completely understandable.
Be careful folks. Take care of yourselves. Think twice – wait for help. No matter how hard it is to hold yourself back.
Every situation is different – in this case.. being so far off shore. Just a terrible terrible place to be.
I hope she recovers as swiftly as possible.
Edit: It’s slightly upsetting they neglected to mention she was asked to get off the ice multiple times before she went in. So sad.
The quote is not dismissive of the dog’s life – it’s just a statement of fact, coming from someone who helped save her life. There is going to be some emotion there. Instead of criticizing over word choice why not acknowledge that these people did save the woman’s life and are even saying that they will respond to calls regarding animal lives too? It’s just common sense, albeit tragic sense. Unfortunate for everyone involved.