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Seven ice rescues needed during Winter Games weekend

Dickinson County News - Staff Photo - Create Article
Arnolds Park/Okoboji Fire and Rescue shared aerial pictures provided by the Iowa DNR and Iowa State Patrol . The photos don’t necessarily represent all areas of open water or thin ice. (Photos submitted)
By
Russ Mitchell - Managing Editor

Officials with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources now say seven off-highway vehicles (OHVs) or all-terrain vehicles (ATVs) broke through the ice over Winter Games Weekend in the Iowa Great Lakes.

In each case, the DNR said all of the vehicles were removed and no injuries were reported.

“Between the cold weather and lack of snow cover, we should have excellent ice thickness and quality, but that’s not the case,”  Iowa DNR Law Enforcement Bureau Chief Craig Cutts said on Tuesday.

Sections of the Iowa Great Lakes have been open all winter, according to the Iowa DNR team.

“Seams in the ice have been opening during the day, then skimming over at night,” the DNR added in the update. “These hazards have been avoidable during daylight, but have caused issues after sunset. The lack of snow has also created slick conditions making it difficult to walk without ice cleats and has caused stopping issues for OHV/ATVs even while traveling below five miles per hour.”

Highs are expected to remain above freezing through the weekend, according to National Weather Service forecasts. The Iowa DNR staff says the warming trend will only accelerate a change in ice conditions.

“We emphasize the point that ice thickness varies on each body of water and we’re really seeing that this year,” Cutts said. “It’s a good reminder that no ice is 100 percent safe – and to trust your instincts – if it doesn’t look right, stay off.”

A pair of Thursday night rescues outlined the Iowa DNR’s concerns last week.

Arnolds Park/Okoboji Fire and Rescue received the first call at 5:49 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 23, for an ATV that went into the water near Pillsbury Point on West Lake Okoboji.

The department arrived with the airboat and responders learned that five people pulled themselves out of the water and walked to shore. They were evaluated by the Lakes Regional Healthcare Ambulance crews and AP/O EMS responders at the scene.

Two were transported to LRH for further evaluation and care, according to a statement from AP/O Fire Chief Chris Yungbluth.

After returning to the station, the team was immediately dispatched at 6:48 p.m. for a second ATV. It went into the water on East Lake Okoboji near Bridge’s Bay resort.

The team once again used the airboat. Upon arrival, responders learned that a bystander, Kyle Peterson, pulled the two ATV riders out by using his coat as a makeshift rope.

The Spirit Lake resident then helped the “two very cold victims” walk back to the Bridges Bay area where they were met by the rescue crews in the airboat.

Responders took the ATV riders to the Triggs boat ramp where they were met by medical crews from AP/O and Lakes Regional Healthcare. They were transported to the Spirit Lake hospital further evaluation and care.

ICE CONDITIONS ‘VERY STRANGE’

Pre-Winter Games estimates suggested ice thickness measured around 14 inches in most areas of East Lake Okoboji. A handful of areas — mainly on the northern-most basin — were much less stable.

Most places on West Lake Okoboji had 14 inches of ice or more as well but, the Iowa DNR said, “there are still many unsafe areas or areas of open water on the main lake.”

Yungbluth made the same observations following Thursday’s rescues.

“This year’s ice conditions are very strange,” he said. “We have good clear ice in some areas and little to no ice in others. The areas with seams and open water are not only around the normal places we see it occur but also in areas that we don’t normally see open areas.”

The Iowa Great Lakes Area Chamber of Commerce estimates that more than 40,000 visitors make a trek to the Lakes Area for the University of Okoboji Winter Games each year. Iowa DNR Fisheries Management Biologist Mike Hawkins and other DNR experts emphasized cautious travel in areas around heaves or seams.

“Those are places where the ice is buckled. They are very dangerous,” he said a few weeks ahead of the Winter Games. “You should not approach those areas at all. They kind of hide themselves with changing temperatures. A ridge or seam that's visible one day may actually lay back down. So it's good to have some knowledge of where those seams and heaves are. You've really got to keep an eye out for them.”

Yungbluth and Hawkins both recommend ice picks and a length of rope for anyone who goes out on the ice.

Snow cover is sparse, but Lakes travelers shouldn’t assume tire or sled tracks mean the ice is safe for their vehicles, too.

“When it comes to driving or taking UTVs on the ice, the biggest mistake people make is that they watch or see tracks in the snow and they think: 'Well, if that person made it, I can make it’ — instead of actually verifying the ice, drilling some holes, doing some investigation on their own,” Hawkins said.

He added, “It could be a completely different vehicle, a lot more weight. Those tracks may be quite old. Conditions may have changed.”

Do not attempt frozen lake travel anywhere near bridges.

"Just strictly avoid them. There's no reason to go through there,” Hawkins said. “We see a lot of people get themselves in trouble underneath bridges. There isn't any of flow going out of the lakes right now, so you would think there isn't much current around those bridges, but there is just enough that it thins that ice out. And those are places where we can see a temporary ice cover overnight. It looks like good ice, then we get a little snow on top of it. There's no way to know that it’s thin. Through history, we've seen people try to drive vehicles underneath those bridges, and that almost never works out for somebody that's doing that.”

Hawkins said the general recommendations are:

• 4-5 inches of clear, strong ice for walking.

• 8-10 inches before anyone considers a drive out onto the ice.

"We certainly don't want to recommend anyone taking a vehicle out or taking a UTV out,” he said. “Those users have to enter at their own risk.”

Warm weather, wind and rain in the forecast will likely end ice fishing across southern Iowa and cause significant issues on lakes with pockets of open water in other regions, the DNR said. Two ATVs/OHVs broke through Lake Rathbun in south central Iowa over the weekend as well.

This story was last updated Jan. 28 at 2:11 p.m.

 

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