Savoy Fire Department training for water and ice rescues

SAVOY, Ill. (WCIA) — The Savoy Fire Department has been preparing for how to deal with emergency rescues in water and ice.

Monday night, four people needed to be rescued out of a drainage ditch off of I-57. Earlier that same night, the department was training for that exact situation. They were called out to the scene, but were then told they were not needed.

However, they were ready after training with different gear.

“For ice and water rescue, there’s wet suits, warm suits, there’s ropes, there’s float devices,” said said Eddie Bain with Savoy Fire, “that type of equipment that you might use to help get someone out of the water, or out of the ice if they’ve fallen through the ice.”

Bain shared that, to stay safe, ice needs to be at least four inches thick to walk on it — and nothing in the Central Illinois area qualifies yet.