Recent death at Parker pond has ice a priority for local rescuers

AURORA | One teen died and two others were injured last week when they fell through the ice at a partially frozen pond in Parker.

Aurora fire officials say Aurora has seen relatively few ice rescues in recent years, but they are hoping to raise awareness about the issue nonetheless.

Fire crews spent part of last week training for ice rescues at Aurora Reservoir.

In recent years Aurora firefighters have seen few ice rescues, said Sean Dolan, a spokesman for the department.

In 2015 AFD responded to one ice rescue and one water rescue, Dolan said, and previous years saw a similarly small number of the same calls.

But, Dolan said, while Aurora hasn’t had many ice rescues, fire crews are hoping to raise awareness about the risks associated with ice.

Even in the coldest winter months, Dolan said ice along the Front Range is rarely hard enough to walk on and never hard enough to drive on.

Dolan said pets are often at risk around ice, too, and pet owners need to be careful not to chase their animals onto ice.