Bartlesville Icy Rescue

Tuesday, January 23rd 2007, 8:44 pm

By: News On 6

A Bartlesville teenager who fell into an icy pond Tuesday owes her life to two brave firefighters. The 17-year-old was walking across a seemingly frozen pond at Jo Allyn Lowe Park in South Bartlesville, when she fell in.

News on 6 reporter Ashli Sims has the details of the girlâ€™s icy rescue.

The geese didn't seem to have a problem crossing their frozen home, and it seems a teenager tried to follow in their footsteps. Turns out she was walking on thin ice.

"What I saw was somebody out in the ice, there,â€ witness John Boxall said. â€œMay have fallen through, I guess."

Looks maybe deceiving pitch a rock onto the frozen pond and it doesnâ€™t fall all the way through. But firefighters say you should never go out on a frozen pond in Oklahoma. The 17-year-old didn't follow that rule of thumb and found the ground literally sinking beneath her.

â€œShe had fallen through once and got out,â€ Assistant Fire Chief Bobby Tallchief said. â€œAnd she was walking across the pond again to the edge and had fallen through."

Two firefighters, Captain Bruce Waterberry and Justin Woodworth, braved the shaky ice to rescue the girl. They tried crossing the ice on a ladder, but fell in anyway. It took a boat to retrieve them from the water.

"And they got the boat down there. And the last I saw of it, they were all in the boat," Boxall said.

Two brave men took the fall, but Tallchief says it was a team effort that brought everyone back to shore safely.

â€œThe citizens of Bartlesville are really fortunate to have a well-trained fire department,â€ Tallchief said. â€œAnd the guys are just, at any department across the country, they go the extra step sometime and it worked out today."

All three, the 17-year-old and the two firefighters, were taken to the hospital. They were all released; one firefighter suffered a minor injury to his arm.

The Bartlesville fire department says they really want to thank the Allbright family who set up a memorial fund that paid for the boat.

[Pictures courtesy: Becky Burch â€œBartlesville Examiner-Enterpriseâ€]