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Dive team pulls boy from lake after 4 children fall through ice

Neighbors helped rescue three of the children, while a West Metro Fire dive team pulled the fourth from a lake north of Roxborough State Park.

DOUGLAS COUNTY, Colo. — Four children who were on an icy lake fell into the water Tuesday afternoon, and one of them was taken to a hospital after being pulled out by a dive team, according to West Metro Fire Rescue.

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The two boys and two girls were on the ice on Crystal Lake, near Crystal Lake Drive in a neighborhood just north of Roxborough State Park in Douglas County.

"We were just coming home from basketball practice. When we pulled into the driveway and opened the doors, we heard screaming," said Kristi Saine, who lives in a home that borders the lake.

"I jumped up on the fence and I could see them in the water, all four of them screaming," she said. 

Kristi's daughter, Tori Longo, called 911. 

"I was talking to [the operator] the whole time," Longo said. "They were like, 'don’t let anybody in the ice!'"

A spokesperson for West Metro Fire said a group of neighbors helped three of the children get to safety using hoses, extension cords and ropes. Longo said she watched as two men worked to help the kids, and even debated going out into the water themselves.

Three of the children -- two girls and a boy -- are OK, according to West Metro Fire. 

Once they got out of the water, Saine brought the three children into her home to warm up, change clothes and take showers.

"It was sad. Their hands were purple. Their feet were frozen," she said. "At first I honestly didn’t know what to do, but I just knew I had to get them out of their wet clothes and get them warm."

A West Metro Fire dive team pulled out the fourth child – a young teenager. He was taken by ambulance to a hospital, the spokesperson said. His condition is unknown.

West Metro Fire said they first got the call for help around 2:27 p.m., and the dive team pulled the boy out by about 3:06 p.m.

"It was really hard holding it together and trying to stay strong for the kids. And then when everybody left, that’s when I kind of just let it go," Saine said, reflecting on the emotional afternoon.

"It [gives]Thanksgiving a whole different outlook, a different perspective, to be thankful for everything and everyone right now," she said. 

Fire agencies ask people to teach their children to stay off ponds and lakes and to keep their pets on a leash around icy bodies of water. If a person or pet falls into the water, don't go after them, and instead call 911.

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