Penetanguishene man one of the ones rescued in weekend ice-rescue

One fisherman recalls his experience being rescue from Georgian Bay in the large-scale ice rescue on the weekend.

Kevin Fox of Penetanguishene was one of nearly two dozen people that had to be rescued after a massive piece of ice broke away leaving him stuck with no way off.

“I noticed the water splashing was a little bit more and at that point I knew the crack was opening,” says Fox. “Those little tiny waves that were pushing the ice out and splashing on it were now crashing on the ice breaking it up so it was eroding towards us.”

Police say they received a call for help just before the noon hour. Two OPP helicopters and an Ornge chopper raced to the scene. The group of ice fishermen were about two kilometers from shore and time was quickly running out with some people already in the water.

“It was at that point - guys started calling family saying goodbye, people were crying, it was an emotional time,” says Fox. “What I think really built on that was seeing other grown men crying, you know, calling saying goodbye to their daughters, saying goodbye to their families.”

Rescue crews prioritized the people in the water first, then turned their attention to those on the drifting ice. Two hours after the call, everyone was rescued. Only two people were treated with minor injuries including hypothermia.

The incident came as temperatures are continually rising and the ice is starting to break away, especially near the shorelines. All permanent ice huts have to be off local lakes by the 15th of the month and the 30th to the north.

Bear Point Fish Hut Rentals operator Donny Luskew was removing huts from Lake Simcoe on Monday. Luskew says he’s simply calling it a season with just a few days left.

“To makes sure we got off in a safe and timely manner, there’s no point in keeping people out there if you don’t believe in your heart it’s 100 per cent safe,” says Luskew.

Police say in total there were 23 people that had to be rescued off the lake. Police also say the dramatic swing in temperatures will certainly become a factor in the coming days and weeks and remind people it’s always a risk heading out on any body of water at any time.