All but one of the 135 men, and of course they were men, survived. The one fatality was from an apparent heart attack, a guy who had fallen into the water when the ice collapsed beneath his snowmobile. Another guy had a similar mishap, but he was pulled to safety, wrapped in blankets, and sent home.
The rescue was made using helicopters that lowered baskets onto the ice, which is pretty awesome, as well as with air boats, slightly less awesome but still quite cool. The weather on Saturday was unseasonably warm, creating unsafe conditions that should have been obvious to experienced anglers. The crack that sent the ice floe adrift wasn't a new crack. The fishermen created a makeshift wooden bridge over the fissure to get onto the floe. The bridge was sent tumbling when the ice shifted. Oops.
I'm tempted to make the usual jokes here, but ice fishing actually seems like it could be fun, under safe conditions, of course. You're out with your buddies, far from the people who annoy you. You're doing a kind of primeval activity, or at least you can pretend you are, if you ignore the pings of the high-tech portable fish-finder. There's probably a bottle of whiskey somewhere, just for the occasional nip to keep warm. And you might just get a nice big fish for dinner. What could be better?
No need to answer that last one. Just be safe on the ice and listen to your instincts before you follow the hordes.
[Photo: USA Today]
Related Stories
· 'Idiotic': Sheriff Disappointed in Lake Erie Fishermen [USA Today]
· One Dead, 134 Rescued From Lake Erie Ice Slab [Canada.com]
· Ice Fishing Coverage [Jaunted]
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