Stay off the ice

Unpredictable ice leads to difficult rescues

MOSES LAKE — Walking around on ice in Moses Lake or any other body of water is dangerous and sometimes fatal.

Assistant Fire Chief Brett Bastian advises against going on the lake when it is frozen because there are too many risks and the ice is unpredictable.

The fire department responded to several calls regarding people on the ice, he said. Sometimes people were fine where they were, but some had to relocate.

If people find it necessary to go on the lake, there are a few guidelines people should follow.

The weather needs to be below freezing temperature both day and night for several days in a row in order to risk walking on the ice, Bastian said.

If there is any thawing event such as rain or temperatures above freezing, even for a couple hours, ice becomes unstable, he said.

If weather conditions are right and the ice is at least two inches thick, it is generally stable. Members of the fire department have fallen through ice during drills when it was close to two inches thick, Bastian warns.

People need to remember the ice thickness varies all around the lake. It might be thick where someone is standing, but a couple feet in any direction, ice could be thinner causing someone to fall through, he said.

When someone falls through the ice, hypothermia sets in immediately.

If someone falls though the ice within city jurisdiction, it takes four or five minutes for the department to respond. In addition to response time, it takes five to six minutes to retrieve the victim back to shore, he said.

If all goes well according to drills, it is enough time to retrieve the victim unharmed. Sometimes it's not the case.

During a traditional drill, the team practices rescuing someone within 100 feet of the shore. The further out someone is, the longer it takes for rescue and the ice is less stable.

In February 2006, the department assisted a Grant County call to rescue a man who fell through the ice, Bastian said. He fell through the ice attempting to save a dog who fell through the ice at Diamond Point in Cascade Valley. The victim fell through thin ice more than 400 feet away from the shore.

The ice was very uncooperative for the rescue team.

Once the rescuer reached the victim, the harness used to pull them back kept breaking the ice, pulling the rescuer under water with the victim, Bastian said. The conditions were too poor to rescue the man, who eventually died.

Since the incident, the department reevaluated their response by getting new equipment to reach people further out on the ice.

The department has an ice rescue sled and a rapid deployment craft. The craft is an inflatable boat capable of being launched from almost anywhere.

In addition to the equipment, the department has standard procedures to follow.

Four rescuers wear ice rescue suits. The suits decrease the chance of hypothermia. Two of the rescuers go out on the ice to retrieve the victim. Two stand by in case the rescuers need to be rescued, he said. Another team pulls the rescuers and the victim to shore using a harness system.

In general, stay away from the ice because too many factors can lead to an accident, he said. For every 100 feet away from the shore a victim is, it compounds rescue difficulty immensely.