Firefighters Save 2 Duck Hunters From 56-Degree Lake

When a duck hunting trip turned into a fight for survival Saturday morning, firefighters from Gun Barrel City, Texas proved that no conditions are too dangerous when lives hang in the balance.

Two hunters found themselves treading water in 56-degree Cedar Creek Lake after their boat began taking on water and eventually sank. The call came into the Gun Barrel City Fire Department at 10:16 a.m., with the Henderson County Sheriff's Office requesting immediate assistance near Oak Hill Drive in Seven Points.

Rescue boats launched quickly, but the lake had other plans. High winds whipped up waves that slashed visibility, turning the search into a needle-in-a-haystack operation across the vast waters north of the State Highway 334 bridges.

For 90 agonizing minutes, the two men clung to hope in water cold enough to cause hypothermia. Their families waited. First responders searched.

Then, approximately 500 yards from Oak Hill Drive, a Gun Barrel City rescue boat spotted them. Both hunters were pulled from the water and rushed to a local hospital for evaluation, cold and exhausted but alive.

Why This Inspires

Assistant Fire Chief Jason Raney captured what made this rescue extraordinary. Multiple agencies dropped everything to coordinate a search in conditions that put rescuers themselves at risk. The Gun Barrel City Fire Department, Henderson County Sheriff's Office, and Texas Game Wardens worked as one team with one mission.

"The conditions on the lake, with high winds and rough water, made this a very dangerous rescue for the personnel aboard Rescue Boat 1," Raney said. Yet they launched anyway, because that's what heroes do.

The hunters are now recovering with their families, a reminder that when we work together and refuse to quit, even the roughest waters can't keep us from bringing people home.