Ice rescue
Fire department busy responding to ice emergencies

by Jeff Colbourne
Northern News Services

NNSL (Oct 15/97) - A thin layer of ice that formed about two weeks earlier than usual on Yellowknife lakes is causing concern for the city's fire department.

"It's like a frozen magnet and it's just drawing the kids to it," said deputy fire chief Mike Lowing.

And it's not just kids getting into danger.

Firefighters responded to a report of a dog that fell through the ice last Thursday night on Kam Lake in Yellowknife.

Kibbels, who was missing at the time, was heard splashing and yelping in the cold waters of Kam Lake about 45 metres from shore.

Kibbles' owner, who rescue crews know only as Sherri, a young woman in her late 20s, immediately went after Kibbels in a canoe, pushing herself across the ice.

Unfortunately her paddle broke, she stepped out of the boat and began to walk the boat across the ice, breaking through every few steps.

When she finally reached Kibbels, she pushed the front end of the canoe into the water but it quickly began to take on water.

Firefighters dressed in ice rescue suits arrived on scene and rescued the woman and her dog. They were dragged safely back to shore, where the woman was treated for mild hypothermia inside the ambulance and released.

Kibbels, who was believed to be in the water for more than an hour, was taken to a vet and treated for hypothermia.

This ice hazard response was one of more than a dozen the fire department went to in the city last week.

All others however were not all-out rescues. The rest involved children between the ages of eight and 10 years playing on or near ice at Kam, Rat and Frame lakes.

"This year because the lakes were frozen over and there was no snow on the ground the only white stuff really was on the lake and ice so I think it had a bit of a draw more than other years," said Lowing.

When crews catch children playing on the ice the youngsters often think they aren't doing anything wrong.

But it's the department's duty to educate them and warn of the hazards of playing on ice.

Lowing said ice formed two weeks earlier than previous years because of a recent cold snap. But he warned that it will be another two weeks before ice is thick enough to use, and then only if the cold weather persists.

Highs near freezing are forecast for Yellowknife this week.