Burleigh McCoy

Ooh, sounds like the perfect place for practicing rescues if you're the Madison, Wisconsin Fire Department.

I think that's exactly the thought.

So I put on this giant yellow immersion suit.

They call it a Gumby suit because you basically walk like the green claymation character Gumby if you try to move.

One size fits all usually means men's size.

So I followed a couple of firefighters also wearing these suits onto the ice, including Justin.

We walked parallel to the river at first and started moving toward it.

We stepped over this huge ice crack where you could see the water.

And they told me it's features like these.

They can form from warmer water flowing into a lake or from like natural ice expansions and contractions.

These are the places weaker ice can exist and are often where people fall in.

So we cleared the crack, walked right to the edge of where the ice stops and the lake water starts.

Justin got in first.

They didn't throw me in.

I kind of got down on the ice, then went in backwards off the edge.

And I just...

floated there while holding onto the ice for a few minutes.

Was it cold?

No, I was in this suit that made it kind of comfortable.

Oh.