Witnesses Rescue 2 Men Who Fell Through Ice On Frozen Lake

EVERGREEN, Colo. (CBS4)- Two men who fell through some ice on Evergreen Lake were rescued by witnesses who jumped in to save the men.

The men fell through the ice on Tuesday afternoon.

"I'm just glad we were in the work truck," said rescuer Casey Serene.

Serene and Rich Hughes, longtime employees of Lewis Water and Sewer, are used to working together, but that partnership took a new turn when they had to execute an icy rescue.

"I didn't believe my eyes at first," said Hughes.

They were leaving a job in Evergreen Tuesday afternoon when they noticed two ice fishermen crossing an increasingly thinning Evergreen Lake.

"Just as we started up over the hill, I watched one of them just go, 'Ploop!'" said Serene.

That's when they turned around and got to work.

"Pretty much parked in the middle of the road, dumped our ladders and grabbed hoses," said Serene.

The men in the icy water started yelling for help.

"Because we really don't have any rope but our pump hose is 60 feet long," said Serene.

The men turned their work tools into a life-saving device.

"We had the strap through here," said Serene as he demonstrated putting the hose through the end of the ladder.

Stretching the makeshift rescue device nearly 50 feet, they pulled the first man to safety.

Two other men rescued a second man by using a sled.

"At least he hung on. At first he couldn't hang on and I was like, 'No way,'" said Serene.

The second man was rushed to the hospital but both are expected to recover.

"It was just the right time, the right place, and teamwork," said Hughes.