Naperville Water Rescue Saturday Morning Ends as False Alarm

A report of a drowning Saturday morning at a retention pond at 95th Street and Skylane Drive turned out to be a false alarm, according to the Naperville Fire Department.

A woman called 911 at 10:47 a.m. to report that she had witnessed the arm of someone who appeared to be drowning and who was “waving in the water” at the retention pond, according to a news release issued Saturday afternoon from Kevin Lyne, the Naperville Fire Department’s bureau chief. The first company of firefighters arrived at the scene at 10:50 a.m.

A special response team responded to the reported drowning, Lyne said. Initially, 18 fire department members from one engine company, one truck company, two medic units, a squad company, the water rescue team’s vehicle and two command vehicles were dispatched to the scene.   

“Members from the first arriving companies entered the water in protective suits and began a surface search of the pond,” Lyne said in the release. “Water rescue team divers performed an underwater search of the area the witness thought she had seen a person’s arm waving in the water.”

While the water rescue was underway, members of the Naperville Police Department began canvassing the area, going door-to-door to check if anyone was missing, Lyne said.

Additional members of the water rescue team arrived at the scene and also began searching and completed additional underwater search patterns, he said. A total of 25 members of the fire department participated in the search.

“After an extensive search, it [was] determined that there was no one in the water,” Lyne said.