Days after NJ teens die, another plunges into icy water

RINGWOOD — Following the deaths of two teens who fell into the ice on Wednesday, another person fell into the ice at a Passaic County reservoir on Friday afternoon.

State officials said a man fell into the ice at Monksville Reservoir in the Long Pond Ironworks State Park. West Milford police were notified about 2:20 p.m.

The Cresskill-Closter Daily Voice reported earlier in the afternoon that three people had fallen into the icy water and that one of them suffered a cardiac arrest but Department of Environmental Protection spokesman Larry Hajna said only one person was rescued.

West Milford Mayor Michele Dale said that the man was rescued by two officers from Ringwood and a West Milford officer with a specialized wetsuit.

The condition of the victim, including whether he had suffered cardiac arrest, was not immediately available.

The victim was hospitalized at Chilton Medical Center in Pompton Plains.

The temperature in the area was 48 degrees, according to the Rutgers weather station 13 miles away in West Milford. State climatologist David Robinson said bodies of water have been "ice free" for weeks with extremely cold temperatures only happening in the past few days.

"And that's simply not enough time for any water body to freeze over to a thickness that can support anyone being on it," Robinson said. "It just hasn't been brutally cold for any extended period of time this winter."

Two teenage boys died after being pulled from separate icy ponds Wednesday in Middlesex County. In East Brunswick, 13-year-old Yousef Khela was pulled from a small pond on the grounds of the municipal complex while David Tillberg was pulled from Carteret Pond in Carteret after going under the ice.

Contact reporter Dan Alexander at Dan.Alexander@townsquaremedia.com or via Twitter @DanAlexanderNJ