Fire department warns of treacherous ice conditions after snowmobiler falls through
CBC
A fire department is warning people to stay off the ice on rivers and lakes after a snowmobiler fell into frozen water on the weekend, and an ATV was stranded in a separate incident.
Oromocto Fire Department Deputy Chief Richard Cummings said a snowmobiler was riding with two others on the St. John River near Burton, about 30 kilometres southeast of Fredericton, on Saturday night when the machine went through the ice.
He was in the water for about 25 minutes, Cummings said, until a friend pulled him to safety.
"I'm not sure if they ever recovered the machine or not, but they were in a spot where someone could have gotten seriously injured or died," he said.
On Saturday afternoon, the fire department rescued a father and daughter after their all-terrain vehicle got stuck in ice on the Oromocto River.
"They'd basically gotten into an area of soft ice and were stranded, they couldn't, you know, move forward or back and they couldn't get back onto solid ice," he said.
Despite being stuck, the two people weren't in danger of drowning because they were in an ATV that floats, he said.
"Without assistance, they weren't getting out," he said.
Cummings said ice conditions are changing quickly this time of year.
"No ice is safe ice," he said.
He said the province has had a number of days in a row where the daytime temperatures have been well above freezing and the night-time temperatures have been just at freezing.
"The ice sheet on rivers and lakes is very quickly breaking down so we are telling people stay off the ice."
The snowmobiler who went into the water was wet and cold but was able to warm up in a nearby house, Cummings said, and did not need treatment.
Cummings said while his department has teams trained to respond to these kinds of emergencies, there are risks at this time of year.