Ponds and small lakes are frozen over at this time of year, but not necessarily safe.

Ice rescue training was done today to prepare for the possibility of saving someone who falls through the ice.

Going ice skating on a frozen lake may be great fun, but it's also extremely dangerous.  If you hit a thin spot, you could fall through and either drown by getting trapped under the ice or suffer the effects of hypothermia very quickly.

That's why the Springfield Township Fire Department conducted an ice rescue training session Friday morning at Walton Lake off of Eckstein Road.

Fire Chief Ron Henry says frozen lakes are an attractive nuisance to kids and adults, and there have been times over the years when someone had to be pulled out.

He says this training has been done for the last ten years, and has made Springfield Township firefighters quite proficient at saving people and pets from the ice-covered water.

The Shelby Fire Department also has a water and ice rescue team.