CHICAGO (WGN) — First responders in Chicago rescued a man seen walking on frozen Lake Michigan Friday morning.
The man was spotted on the lake near Lake Shore Drive and 55th Street around 7:30 a.m., about 1,000 feet from shore on a day when temperatures were about 12 degrees.
Jason Lach, with the Chicago Fire Department, said the man was a local college student who didn’t realize he was walking out on the ice and had difficulty walking back to shore. Lach said someone in a nearby high-rise first noticed the man on the lake, and that’s when fire officials were notified.
Fire and police officials carefully approached the man and placed him on a raft before taking him back to shore.
It is unknown if the man suffered any health issues at the time of the rescue. EMS officials checked and cleared him, Lach said.
Lach emphasized the importance of staying away from the lake when it’s frozen. He said no ice is safe ice. Lake Michigan is different than other smaller lakes where people may go ice fishing, he added.
“Our lake front spans 25 miles,” he said. “[The ice is] not always inches thick.”
During the rescue, a first responder fell through the ice but was able to get out. Lach said the fire department trains for such ice rescues.