Again on Christmas Eve, this time at 9:26AM the Hughesville Volunteers were on the road again, this time for an animal rescue. Units were alerted to Gilbert Run Park in the Dentsville area for a dog that had fallen through the ice. Squad 2(Dent), Chief 2A(Herbert) and Dentsville Ambulance 158 arrived and proceeded down to the lake. The complainant pointed out a small dot in the lake that was clinging to the ice. Firefighters Dent and Doering from the squad crew, donned ice rescue suits and personal flotation devices off the squad and prepared to attempt the rescue. Using a boat that was acquired from the park, they made the over 200′ trip across the ice to the dog. They pulled the dog into the boat and the boat was pulled to shore by firefighters on land using a tag line that had been previously attached to the boat. The dog was passed off to the EMS crew from Ambulance 158 who assisted the owners with warming the dog. Units operated for just under one hour.

Personnel from Bel Alton, Waldorf, Benedict, Newburg EMS, the Charles County Dive Team, Charles County Emergency Services, Charles County Sheriff’s Office and Charles County Animal Control were also on the scene to provide support as needed.