FDNY Rescues 2 Children From Icy Bronx River

Two children were rescued from an icy Bronx River in a tense operation by an FDNY cold-water rescue company Thursday evening after one fell into the water and the other was found perilously close to breaking ice, authorities said. 

Firefighters were called to a park in Soundview at about 4:30 p.m., said FDNY Ladder 54 Captain Tom Yuneman. The cold-water rescue company responded immediately, putting on their exposure suits and devising a rescue plan on their way there. 

When they arrived, they found the girl already back on shore after she had fallen through the ice. She had apparently gotten herself out, said Yuneman.

"She was soaked, we passed her up, and I asked the young man on the ice to stay where he was," said Yuneman. 

Two firefighters went down to the ice in their exposure suits while tethered to lines back on land. The first firefighter who went onto the ice, Kevin Hillman, fell into the water up to his neck, Yunman said. 

The second firefighter, Chris Harkinish, waded out to his waist and helped anchor a portable ladder about 20 feet out onto the ice. 

When the boy began to step forward, "we told him to please don't," said Harkinish. "We were worried that if he moved at all, the ice was so thin he would be pulled under and sucked down river." 

When the ladder reached him, the boy climbed onto it as the firefighters directed him, and Harkinish was able to carry him off the ladder. 

The children were taken to Jacobi Hospital, where they were said to be in stable condition, according to Yuneman. 

Hillman was also taken to Jacobi, where he was in stable condition. He helps trains other FDNY units on cold water rescues, Yuneman said.

"We had a very experienced young man as our first guy in the water," he said. 

Harkinish said, "Our training came through today, we were prepared. We knew what to do upon arriving and we went right to work."

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