Man, juvenile rescued from Sunset Lake
Two crossed frozen lake to island but heard ice cracking on return
An adult male and a 9-year-old girl were rescued Wednesday from a small island at the eastern end of Sunset Lake after the two traversed the frozen lake but heard ice cracking when they tried to make their way back across.
Asbury Park firefighters responded to a call at 4:47 p.m. alerting them to a possible water rescue situation at the corner of Fifth Avenue and Bond Street, according to the incident report.
When they arrived, they found Kevin Sullivan, 53, and a 9-year-old female juvenile standing on one of the islands on the other side of the lake. The two allegedly walked across the ice onto the island around sunset, but when they attempted to cross the lake back to the street side they heard the ice start to crack and called 911, said Fire Chief Kevin Keddy.
Although the lake is not deep in that area, the cold and the girl’s age prompted Sullivan to call for help, Keddy said.
Acting Captain Carney Conklin helped Sullivan and the girl onto a rescue sled so they could be towed across the lake one at a time.
The two were checked out, given a warning not to head out onto open ice, and released, Keddy said, who added that even through the rescue was not a heart-wrenching nail-biter, he was impressed with the company’s quick response time.
“In a little over five minutes they had firefighters on the scene, dressed — that’s impressive to me, I’m really proud of my guys, they have done a great job training for this,” he said.
“If there had been a person in the water they would have done an awesome job,” said Keddy.
Click here to see more photos of the rescue.
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