Tribune Chronicle / R. Michael Semple Jeremiah Allen, left, and Kyle Leosewski, both of Streetsboro, who describe themselves as veteran ice fishermen, load their gear on a sled for an afternoon of ice fishing Monday at Mosquito Lake.

WARREN — A round of never-used safety rope — 10 years old — sat in a bucket in Scott Oehlstrom’s car as he changed from boots to tennis shoes, packed up his gear and prepared to call a day of fishing quits around 4 p.m. Sunday. It was then the sound of screams rang out from the lake.

“My first thought was, ‘Oh, someone caught a big fish.’ But I turned and looked out toward the lake and there was a tent there poking out of the ice at a 45-degree angle,” Oehlstrom said. “And then I realized the screams, they were … different. It was horrible. The kids were in the water, screaming,” Oehlstrom said.

He could see a child’s head “sticking” out of the ice, he said.

“I grabbed the rope and popped it out of the bucket and ran out through nearly a foot of snow in my tennis shoes while I’m on the phone with the dispatcher, out of breath,” Oehlstrom said. “I knew we didn’t have a lot of time. In the water, once the muscles lock up, you can’t hold onto anything. It’s terrible.”

The water was 36 degrees Sunday in Mosquito Creek Reservoir when several members in a family of seven fell through the ice while fishing in a tent shanty, said Bazetta fire Capt. Dave Walter.

Oehlstrom was one of several people who assisted the family, whose names have not yet been released.

First responders from Bazetta and Cortland arrived two minutes after the 4:04 p.m. 911 call, according to a dispatch log.

“They put their own lives in bit of peril, but with the degree of experience and training they had, it all worked out. We’re all thankful for that,” Walter said of the helpful bystanders.

Oehlstrom said he drives up from Lisbon to fish at the lake nearly every weekend. The ice was about 3.5 inches thick Sunday, he said.

“I like a good 5 inches. So I was fishing right next to the dock. I haven’t been out there near the bay where they fell in yet this year,” Oehlstrom said. “It’s not worth the risk.”

About 30 yards from the shore, the family was set up where some others were Friday, where there were existing holes drilled into the ice, Oehlstrom said.

And then, there was a warm up, so the holes got bigger. And then, someone drilled more holes in the same area, Oehlstrom said. “It was a bad situation,” he said.

After grabbing the rope, Oehlstrom said he gave it to Zachary Westrich and Rob Schaaf and ran back to his car to put his boots on.

The other guys, strangers to him, tied the end of the rope into a loop, laid on the ice, got it around the kids and pulled them to safety, Oehlstrom said.

“They did the real work. I just had a rope,” Oehlstrom said.

Oehlstrom’s car was warming as he prepared to leave so when a boy, 7, was pulled out, he ran him back to the parking lot and turned the heat to high. He helped the boy’s mom into the passenger seat, over her protests because she was dripping wet.

“I told her, ‘It’s just water,'” Oehlstrom said.

When the first responders arrived, the family was warmed in ambulances before being transported to the hospital as a precaution. There were no injuries, according to Matt Eiselstein, a spokesman for the Ohio Department of Natural Resources.

Emergency technicians started the warming process quickly, Walter said.

“In order to prevent hypothermia, we use very aggressive protocols to warm a patient. I believe they received the best care possible,” Walter said.

While there are not many reports of people falling through the ice at the lake, it does happen on occasion, Walter said.

If venturing out on the lake, anglers should know the weather and ice conditions beforehand, wear a life jacket, bring a cellphone in a water-safe bag and fish around other people, Walter said.

The incident will be reviewed by ODNR, Eiselstein said.

“Unfortunately, no ice is safe ice. So we will look at what happened to see what weakened the ice so we can warn the folks. Luckily, there was a happy ending to this. We will use it to improve our recommendations on how to stay safe,” Eiselstein said.

Ice anglers have to follow ODNR’s fishing license laws and may use holes no larger than 12 inches in diameter. Safety tips, advice and rules can be found at http://wildlife.ohiodnr.gov/fishing/ice-fishing.

Ice is weakened by thawing and refreezing, snow on the ice slows freezing and ice rarely freezes uniformly, according to ODNR. Four inches of new, clear ice is the minimum amount recommended by ODNR before going on the ice.