Ice fisherman dies after falling through frozen pond with brother, New York rangers say

A 41-year-old ice fisherman died after falling through a frozen pond with his brother in New York, rangers said.

The brothers were ice fishing at about 2:45 p.m. Jan. 6 at Basswood Pond near Burlington when a dog-walker saw them plunge into the water, the Department of Environmental Conservation Forest Rangers said in a release.

Ranger Nate Laymon rushed to the pond to rescue them.

Laymon crawled onto the ice and reached the 42-year-old brother, rangers said in the release.

A throw bag was used to help the Richfield Springs man out of the water, and he was taken back to the shoreline and treated for hypothermia, rangers said.

Laymon returned to the hole in the pond and tried to find the second brother in the icy water, he said in a video.

“I saw a red, white and black reflective coat and I was like ‘Yep that’s got to be the guy,’” he said.

He tried reaching into the water to grab the fisherman’s coat but couldn’t grasp it, he recalled.

“I dipped my head under, dove my shoulders down, and I got a hold of the guy and brought him to the surface,” he said.

Other rescuers at the scene helped Laymon pull the man out of the pond and took him to the shoreline, where rescuers performed CPR on him, rangers said.

He was taken to a hospital, where he died, rangers said. His brother was also taken to a hospital but has been released.

Rangers said the ice was about 1 inch thick and not frozen enough for people to have their weight on it yet.

“We saved one and gave the other one a fighting chance,” Laymon said.

Burlington is about 85 miles west of Albany.

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