PORTER TWP. – The new year of 2026 may officially be the year of the horse, but local firefighters started off the new year by rescuing a different animal that had fallen into a frozen pond.
For their first emergency response call of 2026, members of the New Bethlehem Fire Co. were dispatched to property along Rockville Road in Porter Township, where a dog belonging to the Confer family had unintentionally taken the new year’s polar bear plunge.
“The dog went out chasing ducks on the pond,” firefighter Ed Goth said, noting that the dog, Rosie, fell into the icy water at the center of the pond.
He said the owners, Matt Confer and his family, attempted to rescue the dog, but then called 911 for help. The call came in at 2:42 p.m.
Once at the scene, Goth said he and the three other firefighters — Antonio Phillips, Barry Fox and Bruce Young — were able to pull the fire company’s rescue boat around the barn to the pond, where they dragged it to the water, breaking ice to reach the dog.
“Oh, she wanted out of that water,” Goth said of the ease of bringing the small dog into the rescue boat. “Once she was in, I just tried to keep her warm while they pulled the boat back in.”
According to posts on Facebook, Rosie was in the water for about 40 minutes before being rescued. But despite the lengthy time in the ice cold water, she appeared to be fine.
“She is all warmed up and safe now,” Emily Confer posted. “No problems at all.”
“I truly thought she was not going to make it,” Sarah McKee -Confer posted. “Without [firefighters], she wouldn’t have.”
“Rosie is doing great now and it’s as if nothing happened,” she continued. “Still unbelievable she was in the water for probably 40 minutes. Thank God you guys had a boat.”
Matt Confer posted his gratitude for the fire company’s response.
“Thank you so much for the unbelievably fast response and fearless efforts of our firemen in the freezing cold temperatures,” he wrote on Facebook. “New Bethlehem is blessed to have such a great group of volunteers protecting the community.”