GREECE, N.Y. — A large emergency rescue response was needed at Braddock Bay in Greece Tuesday, after multiple people fell into the ice, with several others left stranded. The Lake Shore Fire District says 10 people were rescued from the ice. 

Firefighters say they started getting calls for multiple people falling through ice on the bay. 

According to the fire chief, three people fell through and the department was able to get everyone back on shore in about an hour.

Shawn Gardner has been ice fishing for a long time. When he and a few others headed out to Braddock Bay Tuesday, he says the day started like any other.

“We were out fishing. We started out this morning, looking forward to a great day. walked out this morning, ice was solid,” Gardner said. “It has been…up until today.”

He says there were about ten people a few hundred yards out in the bay, when just before 3 p.m. the first person fell in.

“It’s not a warm, fuzzy feeling for sure," Gardner said. "That doesn’t make you feel good, because you have to consider that happening to you, and you worry about their safety.” 

Luckily the water was less than four feet deep, but he says everyone quickly decided to try and return to shore. But the ice had quickly deteriorated, and he ended up falling in along with one other man.

“We didn’t expect it, but that’s what everybody talks about when we talk about late season ice,” Gardner said.

So instead of risking everyone’s safety and the safety of their equipment, they decided to call for help and wait for a rescue.

Due to the large number of people out on the ice, the emergency was declared a “county level special operation,” and the Lakeshore Fire Department received assistance from the Hilton Fire Department and the county emergency response team.

“It’s tiresome on the rescuers," Lakeshore Fire Chief Shaun Freeman said. "As you can see, it’s a long way out there, a few hundred yards. And we also had challenges of our rescuers falling through as they were trying to make their way to the victims as well.“ 

Everyone was rescued successfully, and Freeman says only one person needed to be taken to the hospital out of an abundance of caution.

“It could’ve been a lot worse," Freeman said. "I believe it was a great outcome. We worked together with our neighboring departments very well for the common good.” 

Gardner says he’s thankful for all the help they received.

“They were very kind, very considerate, very professional and very well trained," Gardner said. "I can’t thank them enough.” 

Though he says the whole event will have them rethinking late season ice fishing next year.

“Just a little embarrassing. Being an old timer, this isn’t supposed to happen to us,” Freeman said. “But there’s a good lesson for everyone else: it can, it can happen to you.”

Freeman says this late in the winter, the sun can make for unsafe conditions, and recommends no less than four inches of ice for being out on top of it.