Kyle Rimel says jumping into icy waters of Lake Erie was an eye-opening thrill for him.

“I’ve never done that before,” the 19-year-old paid on-call firefighter for Frenchtown Township said after a day of training on ice-water rescues Thursday at Sterling State Park.

He was one of a half-dozen firefighters who took the polar plunge into 3 to 10 feet of the frozen lake at the boat launch in the state park. After five hours, the firefighters learned about how to pull someone from the lake who had fallen through the ice.

“We had to cut through about 10 inches of ice just to make a hole,” said Capt. Joe Smigielski, who trained the firefighters along with Lt. Josh Volker from the fire department. “It was brutally cold. This was our standing water training. There are a lot of different scenarios. If we want moving water, we go to the mouth of the River Raisin. It’s the same concepts.”

Using ropes, a customized red enclosed trailer and other vital equipment that was purchased with donations from the Derik Bondy Rescue Fund, the firefighters practiced pulling someone from the water who has fallen through the winter ice. Each firefighter took turns playing the victim or being part of the rescue team. They dressed in yellow Mustang commander suits made of different synthetic polymers (polyethylene terephthalate) and multi-layered insulation designed to keep them warm. They practiced rescuing someone or two victims in the water.

While the rest of the team stayed onshore, one firefighter would crawl out on the ice in his commander suit and with a rope tied around him connected to the team. The firefighter would then get as close as he could to make contact with the victim.

“Communication is the key,” Smigielski stressed. “We make contact with the victim to see if they are alone and (check) if they are alert, can make decisions and pull themselves out. If they can’t, then we bring our tools and equipment to connect with them to pull them out.”

The firefighter has to be cautious not to also fall through the ice for fear that he may get sucked in under the ice.

“We’re no different than the person we’re helping,” Smigielski said. “We’re vulnerable to danger, too. We have to be aware of the environment and danger.”

With wind chills below zero, the conditions were difficult for everyone to stay warm, Smigielski said.

“Your face and hands aren’t covered, so your finger tips and face tend to get cold,” he said. “We have classroom training to go over basic precautions, then do the training in January to get the best realistic environment as possible.”

The firefighters all returned to the fire station with “bright red noses,” Frenchtown Fire Chief Wendy Stevens recalled Friday with a laugh. She said the training would not be possible without the generosity of the Bondy Family. Among the equipment the department purchased with donations from the family were the 20-foot trailer that allows firefighters to get warm and change clothing inside; eight commander suits; a 15-foot-long, yellow banana-shaped rapid deployment watercraft, multiple Marsars boards (yellow flotation devices and ice rescue sleds with ropes attached), spikes for shoes to walk on ice and hundreds of feet of rope.

“The Bondy family has really blessed the department for sure with donating (thousands of dollars) for this very high-value equipment,” Stevens said. “It’s such a dangerous recovery when we’re out on ice. The guys need these things” to be safe and successful. “It’s beyond words.”

On Jan. 10, 2018, Derik Bondy, 40, of Monroe died after the all-terrain vehicle he was riding on ice floes off Stony Point fell through the ice. He was able to hang on to the edge of an ice floe, but rescuers were unable to reach him.

Derik, a graduate of Jefferson High School, had been employed at Taylor Welded Blanks in Monroe and was a member of St. Anne Catholic Church. His body was recovered several days later.

In response to the tragedy, the family created the Rescue Fund, an organization that raises money to support local emergency response efforts. The family worked with the fire department to receive the funds since they were first responders.

Amy Bondy, whose husband, Brent, was a brother of Derik, brought her two boys -- Fitzgerald, 3, and Anderson, 11/2, to the park to watch the outdoor training from the shore.

The firefighters were also ready to respond to any fire or rescue calls during the training. Fortunately, their training was completed before a call came in.

“We got a call within an hour after we finished,” Smigielski, 52, said. “We were ready if needed.”

Besides Rimel, others who took the training were Firefighters Neil Hawley, Cory Guy and Cory Musko. They all work the third shift at both fire stations in the township. Both Smigielski and Volker were overseeing classroom instruction before Thursday and then evaluated the firefighters following the outside training.

Rimel, a 2020 Jefferson High School graduate, is already enrolled in the fire academy run by the Monroe County Firefighters Association. He said the water was not as cold as he thought it would be.

“It was warmer than the air outside,” he said. “It was nasty out there.”

He learned a lot while crawling on the ice or in the water with the victim.

“You stay with the victim and make sure they keep their head above water,” he said. “You attach a rescue sling around them and everything is attached to a rope. You try to stay calm, don’t panic and trust your instincts. You have faith in your gear and the guys around you.”

Stevens said her department, which has 17 full-time firefighters and only a handful of paid-on-call workers, could use more paid-on-call firefighters like Rimel and Brandon Nation, who also is a local resident.

“These guys ask to do it. They don’t complain,” she said.

Smigielski said he was pleased with the outdoor exercises.

“We train a lot,” the captain said. “Afterward, we dialogue and I throw questions at them on what we could have done differently. It was very helpful to discuss and remember these things because someday they will be needed.”