An ice floe with hundreds of anglers on it broke off at Upper Red Lake in the US state of Minnesota. Luckily everyone was saved. This was ensured by emergency teams called, the residents of some resorts and a small ice bridge between the floe and the solid ice.
Numerous anglers were caught on ice floe
Sea a press release Around 11:34 a.m., the Beltrami County Sheriff’s Department received emergency calls from anglers reporting that the ice floe had broken loose and was drifting onto the southeastern portion of the lake. When the rescuers arrived at the water, there was about 30 meters of open water between the floe and safe shore. The rescue teams launched drones to assess the situation. They then sent a message to each angler’s cell phone on the ice, telling them where they wanted to start the rescue operation.
The nearby JR’s Corner Access ice fishing lodge helped out with an ice bridge at the narrowest point. At 2.37 p.m. all anglers had been pulled off the ice. According to Fire Chief Rick Thayer, some anglers at the easternmost end of the ice floe were also rescued by hovercraft, while the majority used the ice bridge.
Floe broke off after a change in the weather
Thayer emphasizes, “At any time during the ice fishing season, the weather can change, which has happened more frequently in recent years. if the wind suddenly turns from east to west, as it did that day, then the ice is pushed away from itself because there is still open water in the middle of the lake.”
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Adam Studniski, the operator of the lodge, promises: “It is our part to observe the ice and identify cracks in good time. If necessary, we need the ice bridges.”
Afterwards, the whole thing boiled up again on the social networks because it was demanded that the lodge should bear the costs of the rescue operation because it many ice anglers are staying at the lodge. But Thayer reassured: “The lodge operators are doing everything in their power.”