Milton child rescued from pond with cracked ice

The Milton Fire Department Tuesday, along with agencies providing mutual aid, rescued an 8-year-old boy from a pond with cracked ice. 

According to information released by the department, the child was rescued from a retention pond behind 957 E. High St., Milton, at approximately 1 p.m. 

The Milton Fire Department, along with assets from the Edgerton Fire Protection District and the City of Janesville Fire Department, arrived at the scene to find the child stuck out on the ice on a retention pond and the ice was cracking, the release stated. 

Dispatch advised firefighters that the child was autistic and may be agitated by sirens and rescuers attempting to approach him.

Milton fire units arrived on scene and observed a child approximately 50 feet out on the ice. Milton firefighters donned cold water rescue suits and entered the water. The ice was approximately 1 to 1.5 inches thick and did not support the weight of rescue personnel. 

Residents in the area advised rescuers that the pond where the child was located was approximately 4 feet deep, but certain areas were as deep as 12 feet, the release reported.  

Also complicating the rescue was the child’s initial response to rescuers, which was described within the release as “agitated by rescue personnel approaching him,” causing him to move farther out onto the ice. The child was able to stay on top of the ice and eventually fire department rescue personnel were able to make their way to the child and convince him to approach a rescuer. 

Once close enough, a rescuer was able to safely retrieve the child, remove him from the ice and take him back to shore. The child was evaluated by paramedics at the scene and released to his mother, the release concluded.

No injuries were reported.  

Also assisting at the scene were the Milton and Milton Township Fire Department, the city and town of Milton police departments, Rock County Sheriff’s Department and the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources.