Rockland Firefighters Make Hudson River Rescue

NYACK, NY — Rockland firefighters from three departments converged on the Hudson River Tuesday afternoon. They rescued a little white dog that had run out on the ice and become trapped.

The call came in just after 4 p.m. to Piermont. The smallest of three dogs being walked on the shore had run out on the ice and gotten cut off from shore.

Piermont called Nyack thinking it was in their territory. Once there, everyone realized it was Rockland Lakes. About 25 volunteers from the three departments answered the call.

Piermont Ex-Chief Daniel Goswick put on a waterproof suit that the department also uses for diving. "They're made for extremely cold water," he said. "You don't feel anything."

The dog was 15-20 feet out. The dog walker had tried and failed to get a plank from the shore to the ice floe. Conditions on the Hudson, with the winter so cold so early, are very icy, and the ice is busted and jumbled.

By the time Goswick got out to the dog, he was in chest-high water and at the 20-foot mark on the rope, he said.

Still, it was no big deal.

"We train a lot," he said, referencing a Facebook post from the department about a recent ice-rescue drill. Check out the drill video and post:

Images courtesy Piermont Fire Department