Sturgeon Bay firefighters participated in an ice rescue operation early Sunday morning on the ice off Bonis Place, in the Town of Gardner. The Department was contacted by the Brussels-Union-Gardner Fire Department to provide mutual aid at 5:33am. Three units and nine firefighters responded.
While the initial report indicated two men were on the ice, the first crew on the scene found just one individual, Stefan Litwiecki of Elmhurst, Illinois, about 500 yards from shore, with 100 yards of open water keeping him from returning to land. Firemen used their board to get to Litwiecki, who was taken off the ice without incident. It marked the second time the Illinois man had to be rescued from the ice in two years.
The US Coast Guard also responded to the scene, but he rescue was completed by the time they arrived Sturgeon Bay firefighters were back at the station shortly after 6:30am Sunday.
