SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - At least a dozen people have gambled their safety on the thin layer of ice covering Frame Lake over the past week, according to Yellowknife Fire Department staff.

"First of all, to save us a lot of time and energy, it would be nice if people would just obey the rules and listen to the professionals," said city fire chief Albert Headrick.

"Not only do they put themselves at risk, but they put the other people on the ice with them at risk and my firefighters at risk."

The fire department has handed over the ice measuring duties to the Great Slave Snowmobile Association - Trail Riders, who began testing the ice last weekend.

Bruce Hewlko, secretary and treasurer of the Trail Riders, said there are a couple of inches of ice around the edge of Frame Lake but the middle of the lake is a mystery.

"We didn't really take a measurement of Frame Lake, we didn't consider it safe enough to go out to the middle," he said.

Headrick is flabbergasted by the decisions many Yellowknifers make to head out onto the ice.

"As far as I know, most of them are all locals. We've taken some names," he said. "We're talking adults, we're also talking teenagers. They all should know better."

While no one has been charged with an offence, Headrick said it is possible to do so.

"There is a provision we can charge them with, endangerment, and we're prepared to go down that line," he said.

He said the cooler temperatures should not fool anyone into thinking the ice is safe.

"It might give you a false sense of security that we've had a few cold days but we've also had snow, which prevents a lot of freezing," he said. "It's still early stages here, you've still got running water which can be dangerous."

While no one has fallen through the ice so far, Headrick outlined the dire outlook for anyone who did.

"Your chances of survival, if you go through, are determined by the water temperature," he said.

"Once your core body temperature goes down, your mobility in regards to getting out of a situation goes down significantly."

He had one simple message for the public. "Just be patient, the ice will freeze up and you'll get plenty of time on the ice."

Darcy Hernblad, deputy fire chief of operations, said the only reason ice measuring duties have been dropped is because of a lack of time.

"The only reason (the Trail Riders) are doing it is because we have so many new firefighters in our department, and we have so many areas we have to get them trained up on, we just don't have time for it," he said.