ACTON, MASS. (WHDH) - Five members of a film crew fell through a frozen pond in Acton Monday afternoon, according to the Acton Fire Department.
Witnesses helped the freezing crew members out of the icy pond at Nara Park, Acton Fire Chief Anita Arnum said. The film crew had been shooting a zombie movie out on the pond when the ice gave way.
“They were just being pulled out of the water when we got there, but our personnel were geared out in our dry rescue suits — they can do that while they’re en route to the scene,” Arnum said.
Firefighters assisted with the fifth and final rescue, Arnum said. Tracks in the sand apparently show where EMTs wheeled a gurney out to the edge of the pond.
“Apparently they were trying to set up a scene. One person went out on a kayak onto the ice, and as he got almost towards the middle, apparently the ice broke, he fell out of the kayak, and into the water,” Arnum said.
“And then people on shore, seeing what happened, all tried to go in and rescue him. The next person out fell through, the next person out, again, fell through, and eventually there were five people in the water,” she continued.
Four men and one woman — all 23 years old, except for a 30-year-old man — were taken to Emerson Hospital in Concord for evaluation, fire officials said.
Witness Frank Pennella saw the movie crew on the beach after they were rescued.
“There was one gentleman that had all kinds of makeup on, which I thought was weird,” Pennella said.
The ice was even thinner Tuesday due to the unseasonably warm weather. Arnum warned that it is not safe to go out on any frozen pond, even if it seems sturdy.
“It’s not safe to go out on any pond ice. You don’t know what the water temperature is, with the currents underneath, or any other obstacles that change the ice configuration,” she said.
Arnum said that none of the movie crew members were injured.
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