PEWAUKEE, Wis. — A 61-year-old man died after he fell through the ice on Pewaukee Lake Saturday afternoon.
Waukesha County Sheriff’s Department and Lake Country Fire and Rescue responded to the lake shortly after 3 p.m. to reports of a man who fell through on his UTV and became trapped under the water.
Bystanders had unsuccessfully attempted to rescue the victim. By 3:15 p.m., the man and his UTV could not be seen from the surface and surface swimmers could not find him due to the depth of the water.
Shortly after 3:45 p.m., a Lake Country Fire and Rescue scuba team located the man and pulled him from the water. Despite life-saving efforts from first responders at the scene, the man was later pronounced dead at the hospital. LCFR said he had been submerged under the ice for nearly 40 minutes.
The incident happened when dozens of people were ice fishing on Pewaukee Lake.
Multiple successful ice rescues have happened in Southeast Wisconsin this winter; including on Wind Lake, Lake Monona and Lake Mendota.
The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources is reminding the public that “no ice is 100% safe;” it can be unstable even with extreme cold temperatures.
