Family plunges into icy lake after passing warning signs, California rescuers say

A family of three is safe after they plunged through ice and into freezing water in California on Saturday, police say.

Around 2:30 p.m., police arrived at Big Bear Lake to learn a father, mother and their child had fallen through the ice while they were out playing on the frozen lake, KTTV reported.

“The two ladies were yelling but they were kind of thrashing around which is the worst thing to do in ice apparently,” witness Sandy Bussey told KNBC. “We were just trying to yell at them, ‘stay calm don’t move, just hold on.’”

A witness said she was driving by when she noticed the family and tried to rescue them with a tow strap before police arrived. She posted her account of the incident to Instagram.

“Well it happened today. A family of three fell through the ice and we assisted in the rescue,” she wrote in the caption. “We tried to throw out our tow strap but it was too short and heavy.”

Once deputies from San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Office arrived, it took minutes to pull all three to safety, KTTV reported. The family refused medical treatment, according to the outlet.

The father was issued a citation as police say there were a number of signs warning people to stay off the ice, KNBC reported.

The witness said she hopes the family’s story will serve as a lesson to people who are tempted to try their luck on frozen bodies of water.

“I decided to share this on my feed in hopes that this educates people to stay off the damn ice!” her post said.

Big Bear Lake is roughly 95 miles east of Los Angeles.