iN PHOTOS: Penticton firefighters save deer trapped on frozen Okanagan Lake

A mule deer got stuck on a frozen part of Okanagan Lake in Penticton this morning and members of the local fire department came to the rescue.

A call came in at around 7:50 a.m. today, Dec. 8, according to firefighter Colton Gillies, who was one of the rescuers.

The deer was stuck about 150 to 200 feet from the shore, Gillies said, and he figures it weighed about 125 to 130 pounds.

Helping Gillies get the deer back to land were fellow firefighters Jade Fortwood and Capt. Erik Jordanson.

When Gillies first approached the deer it appeared to be tired.

“It was pretty docile,” he said. “It didn’t give us much of a fight, it was just like, ‘yeah help me.’”

After making contact with the deer, the team took about 10 minutes to complete the rescue operation.

Once it was brought back to land, firefighters used towels and blankets to dry the deer as much as they could. Then it started moving and scurried off into the bush.

“It was a good opportunity for us to do some training in a real-life scenario – not too often you get to do ice rescues,” Gillies said.

The rescue was captured on camera by Penticton fire photographer Mike Biden.

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