Peoria firefighters rescue two dogs from freezing Illinois River

PEORIA (25 NEWS) - Firefighters sprung into action Sunday, rescuing two dogs that were trapped on an ice shelf along the Illinois River.

Just after noon, Peoria fire crews responded to a portion of the river at the end of Grant Street and met with a Peoria police officer and an employee from PAWS that were on scene.

The officer led the crews to the bank of the river where two dogs were found stranded on the ice approximately 200 feet from the shore.

The PAWS representative said they made several attempts to get the dogs to come back to shore, and one of the dogs had fallen through the ice. Firefighters say the dog was able to get itself back onto the ice shelf before fire crews arrived on scene.

The Peoria Fire Department used an inflatable boat with two firefighters in ice rescue Suits to reach the dogs.

Officials say after the firefighters were in place, the boat was placed on the ice and a rescue rope was used to secure the boat to the tenders on shore.

The firefighters made their way from the shore to the ice shelf where the two dogs were located, and one of the dogs was placed on the boat and safely returned to shore.

The second dog ran from the firefighters and made its way back to shore, where it briefly fell back through the ice, but was able to make it back onto land.

Officials say the owner of the two dogs was on scene when the dogs were removed from the river.

They add although the dogs were wet and scared, they appeared to be unharmed and were safely returned to their owner.