Officials in the Iowa Great Lakes are pleading with those who plan to venture onto the ice to celebrate Winter Games to use extreme caution. It comes after two close calls Thursday evening.
The first took place around 5:45 pm when an ATV fell through the ice on Smith’s Bay of West Lake Okoboji. KUOO news has learned five people were on the ATV when it went through. They were able to get out of the water and walked on the ice to the shoreline near Maxwell’s in Arnolds Park. At least two of them were taken by ambulance to Lakes Regional Healthcare to be checked over for possible hypothermia.
The other incident happened a little less than an hour later, near open water on East Lake Okoboji. An all-terrain vehicle with two people on it went through the ice just off Bridge’s Bay. They were taken by the Arnolds Park-Okoboji air boat to a nearby boat ramp where they were loaded into an ambulance and transported to Lakes Regional Healthcare.
Officials say that while ice conditions in some areas are extremely good, that isn’t the case everywhere. There have been areas of open water all winter on a portion of East Lake Okoboji and Big Spirit Lake, along with seams and ice heaves that can be extremely dangerous as well. They say that if you do plan to be on the ice and aren’t familiar with the lakes area, that you should check with a local bait shop on ice conditions. They say you should also have a plan, stick to that plan, and make sure someone else knows that plan. And do NOT venture out alone. Have cold weather gear and ice safety equipment such as ice cleats, ice picks, a throw rope and a flotation device.
(This story is courtesy of fellow Community First Broadcasting station KUOO in Spirit Lake)
