CONCORD, MASS. (WHDH) - A dog walker and a dog were rescued Friday after they both fell through ice at a pond in Concord, officials said.
The Concord Fire Department in a statement said emergency crews first responded to the pond off Balls Hill Road around 10:40 a.m. after receiving a call from a concerned passerby.
Fire officials said the passerby guided crews to the scene, where they found the dog walker, a 26-year-old woman, and the dog already off the ice, at the edge of the water. The woman, officials said, had chased the dog onto the ice and tried to rescue it after it initially ran away.
Officials said first responders quickly wrapped the woman and the dog in blankets and began treating the woman for hypothermia once they arrived on scene. Crews then carried the woman to a nearby parking lot where she was picked up in an ambulance and taken to a hospital.
Officials said the dog’s owner met emergency crews at the scene and took the dog to a local veterinary hospital.
7NEWS spoke with the woman who was rescued in this incident after she was treated and released from the hospital.
Among her comments, she said she is “doing okay.”
While the woman recovers, Good Samaritan Joe Rigali also shared his story, saying he heard the woman in the water screaming for help.
“I was running down the path,” he said. “I could hear her yelling ‘Help! Somebody help me!'”
Rigali said he wrapped the dog in his coat and helped the woman.
“It was very scary,” he said. “And I was prepared to go in if I needed to.”
Concord Fire Chief Thomas Judge told 7NEWS firefighters happened to be conducting their annual ice rescue training elsewhere in town when this call came in.
“They were just setting up and three of the crew were already halfway into their ice rescue suits,” he said. “So, they just jumped in the apparatus and came here.”
“Our firefighters worked swiftly and professionally to help this woman and dog get to safety after falling through the ice, and we are happy that they are alright,” Judge said in a separate written statement.
Grateful for the positive outcome, Judge was using this incident as a teachable moment Friday, telling community members to call 911 if their dog runs onto a frozen body of water, rather than chasing the dog themselves.
(Copyright (c) 2026 Sunbeam Television. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)