Video Shows Minnesota Firefighters Pull Off Dramatic Rescue Of Deer On Ice

Prior Lake firefighters recently saved a deer who was struggling on thin ice and was in danger of falling through. The City of Prior Lake, which is about 20 minutes southwest of Minneapolis, shared video of the rescue on its Facebook and Instagram pages.

Neighbors called Prior Lake Fire Dept. to report a deer struggling on the ice of Pike Lake. Firefighters geared up, crawled along the thin ice, and successfully pushed the deer to shore.

Neighbors called the fire department to report the struggling buck. The fire department showed up quickly and executed a heroic rescue, putting themselves in danger in order to save the animal.

Fire Chief Rick Steinhaus told CBS NEWS that ice is NEVER 100% safe, it certainly isn't safe this time of year. 

"The smaller ponds, the shallow water is getting ice covered, but it's very dangerous, very thin and uneven freezing, so we don't want anyone out there at all," Steinhaus told CBS News.

If anyone knows the deer, be sure to show them this handy chart so they don't find themselves in this situation again.

While the chart does not specifically say when it's safe for a deer to take the ice, it does note that at least 4" of ice is needed to be -relatively- safe for humans, 5-7" thick for a snowmobile, 7-8" thick for a snowmobile, 7-8" for an ATV, 9-12" for a car, 13-17" for a truck and 20+" for a heavy duty truck/shelter.