Tara Kearsey
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (Nov 06/02) - The ice on eight area lakes is no longer considered dangerous, but deputy fire chief Sandy McPhee does not recommend skating on them.

What to do if you fall in - Try not to panic. Remain calm and look towards the shore. - Put your hands and arms on the unbroken surface. - Work forward on the ice by kicking your feet to keep your body horizontal and help you swim out of the hole. - If the ice breaks, hold your position and slide forward again. Keep trying if it doesn't work. - Once you are lying on the ice don't stand up. Roll away instead. - Crawl back to your tracks making sure the hole is a safe distance behind you. - Follow your footsteps back to the shore.

"I'm not going to say that it's safe. We will never say that ice is safe," he said.

Sections of Frame Lake near City Hall and the Co-op have reached an ice thickness of seven inches and 10 inches respectively, Range Lake behind Circle K has 7.5 inches of ice and Back Bay near Air Tindi has reached eight inches, just to name a few.

But "the only safe ice is in your glass," said McPhee, echoing deputy fire chief Clem St. Croix.

Bodies of water around the city still considered dangerous for walking, skating or driving on are Rat Lake, Fault Lake, Yellowknife Bay near the boat launch, Jackfish Lake, Long Lake, McMeekan Causeway and Kam Lake by the city garage.

When testing area lakes the Yellowknife fire department adheres by the national safety standard of six inches thick before taking the lake off it's danger list.

McPhee cautions that ice is very tricky and even if it is up to par with national standards, that doesn't mean it's unbreakable.

"Our best safety tip that we can give to anyone this time of year is to stay off the ice. Nobody can determine where the safe areas are," said McPhee.

Weather conditions such as temperature and snowfall, melting and refrozen ice, depth of the water, size of the lake and water chemistry can all affect the stability of the ice on any given day.

"Even though you're walking on a lake there are sometimes currents from creeks and things like that so you never know where the weak points are going to be," said McPhee.

Even shallow lakes are dangerous, said McPhee, since the water is very cold and there is a chance that if anyone falls through they may not be able to get themselves out.

When driving on an ice road you should be prepared to jump out in a hurry. That means unbuckling your seat-belt, having a plan of action in place in case you break through, and even leave your doors open and windows down to allow you to exit quickly.

You should also be cautious of snow covered ice, which masks thin ice or open holes. Wearing snowmobile suits with floatation elements can also be a benefit, or wear a personal floatation device or life preserver outside your outer clothing.

In case you do fall through, you should carry a few large nails and light nylon rope in your pocket, which you could use to help pull yourself or someone else out of the water. Nails should be capped on the sharp end to prevent you from stabbing yourself if you fall on them.

An ice thickness chart for Yellowknife Lakes and ice safety tips are available on the Internet at the 'Don't be an icehole' site found at http://ice.ssimicro.com.