Icy Water Rescue Imperils Firefighters

A volunteer fire department north of Toronto lost a $135,000 airboat and almost four of its members who were trying to rescue an 18-year-old in a frigid lake.

Friends of Nicholas Borgers called the Ontario Provincial Police when he refused to heed their warnings early Sunday about setting off on Lake Simcoe, north of Toronto, in a pedal boat after an all-night party, the Toronto Star reported.

The OPP scrambled to get one of its boats to the lake after Borgers was spotted in the rough water without a life jacket. The volunteer Oro-Medonte Township fire department responded first with their air boat, the report said. Just as they were pulling the man aboard, a large wave capsized the craft and all five people watched as it sank, fire chief Scott Cowden said.

After several minutes, the police boat arrived and all were rescued without serious injury, the report said.

Borgers will appear in court in June to face numerous charges related to boating, alcohol and Criminal Codes counts, police said.