PLYMOUTH – Wardens responded to Plymouth Pond after three men fell through thin ice Saturday – two of them as they tried to help a third person.

All involved had pulled themselves from the frigid water by the time rescuers arrived. They were chilled but otherwise unharmed, Warden Dave Georgia said Sunday.

“It could have been real serious,” he said.

Around 2:30 p.m. Saturday, Christopher Fisher, 26, of Bangor had seen snowmobiles skimming along the ice near shore and, after watching them, decided it was safe to drive his all-terrain vehicle onto the frozen lake.

“He got about halfway across, about 200 yards from shore, when he fell through,” Georgia said.

As his three-wheeler bobbed upside down, Fisher kicked to gain momentum in the water, then managed to flip himself onto the ice. “That was the best thing to do,” Georgia said.

Meanwhile, two other men who had seen Fisher break through rushed across the lake to his rescue.

Evan Cole, 21, of Plymouth was riding a Ski-Doo snowmobile when he saw the accident. He swung around and picked up another man, Dave Fortier, 41, of Biddeford, who had been riding an ice boat.

Before the snowmobile could reach Fisher, it also broke through the ice in about 4 feet of water. The snowmobile sank as Cole and Fortier climbed out.

Georgia said the men were fine after warming themselves in the back of an ambulance.

The accident, he said, reflects the need to use caution on frozen lakes and ponds.

“We’ve only had a good week of frigid weather. There’s a false sense of security that the ice is thick enough, but it’s not,” Georgia said.

“People should let it button up, with this cold weather, a lot longer than they are allowing it to,” he said.