MADISON, Wis. — The Madison Fire Department says a jogger fell through the thinning ice of Lake Mendota on Monday afternoon.
The fire department’s Lake Rescue Team was dispatched to Lake Mendota near the Memorial Union at about 3:45 p.m. Monday after getting a report that someone had fallen through the ice.
The first crews arrived on the scene three minutes later, with first responders seeing a person on the ice about 50 feet from shore who was walking toward land.
Once the person got to shore, he told the Madison Fire Department that he was running on the lake when the ice broke and he fell into the water. He was able to get out of the hole in the ice and make his way to shore on his own. The man did not need medical attention.
Earlier this month, organizers canceled on-ice events for the annual Frozen Assets Festival — including the Frozen Assets 5K that was scheduled to take place on the ice of Lake Mendota — over concerns about the thinning ice with the sustained stretch of above-average temperatures.