Derrick Zozzaro and Matt Lindsley from the Southwest Harbor Fire Department put their lives at risk early Sunday morning to rescue a frightened dog from the ice on the harbor.

Chief Sam Chisholm said the dog, whose name is Hero, was about 100 yards off the shoreline, while the temperature was 12 degrees and winds gusted to 20mph.

Hero’s owner Maiysha Somers-Jones called the fire department and told them she had been walking the dog when he ran away from her. After some time, the scared owner saw her pooch out on the ice and posted on Facebook that she needed help. Subsequently, the brave firefighters showed up and fearlessly headed onto the ice.

Chisholm said the ice was about an inch or two thick and the dog was lucky to stay above water until help arrived. Lindsley and Zozzaro, who are trained for situations like this, managed to grab the dog who was just minutes from drowning.

The men swam back to shore with Hero, where an ambulance waited. An EMT dried the dog, warmed him and said he was going to recover quickly.