Squirrel-chasing dog rescued by firefighters after falling through ice-covered pond

A dog chasing a squirrel triggered an emergency rescue from an icy pond in Massachusetts on Thursday morning. Firefighters saved the freezing animal after she had fallen through the ice at Winning Pond in Billerica. Local resident Mike Martorana was out walking his dog at around 8:30am when his year-old dog Maya went out on the pond.



"All of a sudden she seen a squirrel and she ran on the ice and she fell through," he said. "I knew not to go on the ice so I called the fire department and animal control and they did an unbelievable job." Firefighters responded within minutes, he said, and sent a diver in to rescue the scared Rottweiler, lab, and pitbull mix.



"She was half in the pond and she was holding on to the ice with her front paws," he said. "She was actually trying to pull herself out with a tree branch there." Captain Erik Szymansky said one of the firefighters got into an exposure suit when the department responded. "He was able to get out of the back of the truck and the companies worked together to put a ladder in," he said. "



As part of the regular ice rescue training that we do they just followed all the steps and were able to pluck the dog from the water." Martorana was grateful for the department's response. "They got here within five minutes and got her out for me," he said. "She's only a year old and she's so friendly and I got three kids, and we would've been heartbroken if something happened to her." Meanwhile, Maya seems to be alright and is resting at home with a heated blanket after her ordeal.