A woman and two dogs are lucky to be alive after they fell through the ice on a frozen Surrey river Thursday.
According to firefighters, the 52-year-old was walking a dog between 4:30 and 5 p.m. when the animal chased a bird out onto the Serpentine River and crashed through the ice.
Battalion Chief Reo Jerome said the woman also went out onto the river to help the dog and fell into the water.
A witness later told CTV News that another dog had also fallen into the water, but Jerome did not mention a second animal.
The battalion chief said the woman was in the water for at least 10 minutes while crews got the call and arrived at the scene.
Firefighters had to make their way about 500 metres along a dike on the north side of the waterway, just west of King George Boulevard in order to access the area.
Luckily, the woman was able to make her own way out of the river before rescuers entered the water.
Jerome said she was able to walk away from the scene and appeared physically unharmed, but was being assessed by paramedics.
"While that was happening, the dog was not doing very well," he said. "It was losing its strength and the dog was going under water and coming back up and yelping. It wasn't very nice for them to watch that."
But the animal eventually made it safety.
"It kind of was one last chance," Jerome said. "The dog had relaxed and spread itself out and kind of did a spider crawl up onto the ice and was able to make its way to shore."
He did not provide any information on the animal's condition following the rescue.
The battalion chief said the incident serves as a reminder not to venture out onto frozen rivers, no matter how difficult it can be to see a pet struggling in the water.
"What she did was very ill-advised," he said. "She is a very fortunate person. She's very lucky that this didn't end in tragedy for her and her dog."
