Kimberley Search and Rescue is urging caution after responding to multiple extremely serious incidents over the weekend involving people and a dog falling through thin ice on area lakes, with one fatality confirmed by Kimberley RCMP.
On Friday, Mar. 25 KimSAR was called to Moyie Lake, after two people attempted to rescue a dog who had run out onto the ice and fell in themselves.
sa国际传媒淲e donsa国际传媒檛 know the outcome of two of the subjects at this point in the time, we had three subjects and a dog fall through, all were critical and the dog died,sa国际传媒� a KimSAR manager told the Bulletin Monday morning. sa国际传媒淭hatsa国际传媒檚 why wesa国际传媒檙e telling everybody, this is really really really serious. People are going out onto ice that is extremely deceiving, very deceptive.sa国际传媒�
sa国际传媒淭he people who tried to rescue the animal used water craft, so they were trying to do the right thing, and unfortunately, if you get stuck on the ice, you most likely cansa国际传媒檛 get back. I cansa国际传媒檛 say much more than that,sa国际传媒� SAR added. sa国际传媒淪uffice it to say, if someone goes through, an animal goes through dial 911, donsa国际传媒檛 go out. Donsa国际传媒檛 go out.sa国际传媒�
SAR said that the dog died and the two people who attempted to rescue it were in critical condition at the time SAR arrived. The Bulletin has contacted the Cranbrook RCMP detachment for additional information.
SAR was also deployed to an incident on Sunday, Mar. 27.
Sgt. Steve Woodcox confirmed to the Bulletin that on Sunday, Mar. 27, two males on a quad were heading in towards the shore at Moyie Lake and at about 50 feet from shore the quad broke through the ice and both men went into the water.
sa国际传媒淥ne of the men a 59-year-old was pulled from the water, I believe with the help of maybe Canal Flats Fire Department and our Kimberley RCMP and that male is deceased.sa国际传媒�
The Bulletin will follow this story as more information becomes known, but the messaging from SAR at this point is critical.
sa国际传媒淚f someone else goes in, donsa国际传媒檛 go in, you might not make it out either, they went in for a reason,sa国际传媒� the SAR manager said. sa国际传媒淚f somebody goes through the ice, dial 911 right away and be very specific and the other thing is to know your phone so you can give coordinates.sa国际传媒�
SAR added that they rarely know the outcomes of these incidents after they hand the situation off to other first responders such as BC Ambulance.
sa国际传媒淚 can say that all three of the subjects were highly, highly affected by the cold water and they couldnsa国际传媒檛 get out by themselves and the dog didnsa国际传媒檛 make it.sa国际传媒�
The SAR team who is sa国际传媒渄evastatedsa国际传媒� following this past weekendsa国际传媒檚 incidents.
sa国际传媒淲e choose to volunteer our time to do this but wesa国际传媒檙e always sad when this happens too,sa国际传媒� SAR said, adding a critical incident stress team will come in and work with them.
There was yet another incident on Saturday, Mar. 26 when an off duty KimSAR member saved an individual who had gone through the ice at Horseshoe Lake. The member used a ratchet strap to safely rescue the trapped individual.
SAR recommends using www.adventuresmart.ca before going out into the backcountry for information about ice thickness and to plan trips ahead of time.
Kimberley SAR quoted the Lifesaving Societysa国际传媒檚 safety tips, saying sa国际传媒淪pring ice is rotten icesa国际传媒� and included the following information:
3sa国际传媒� (7cm) or less - STAY OFF!
4sa国际传媒� (10cm) - ice fishing, walking, cross country skiing
5-7sa国际传媒� (13-18cm) - one snowmobile or ATV
8sa国际传媒�-12sa国际传媒� (20-30cm) - one car, group of people
12sa国际传媒�-15sa国际传媒� (30-38cm) - one medium truck (pickup or van)
Kimberley SAR recommends staying off lakes and streams at this time as ice conditions continue to deteriorate.
paul.rodgers@kimberleybulletin
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