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Can-Am Headquarters ...Aurora Wheelers ATV Forum > Tips, Toys, Tires, Ads, Misc > Outdoors > Officials: Ice not safe this early in season |
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| Officials: Ice not safe this early in season - Outdoors - Tips, Toys, Tires, Ads, Misc - Can-Am Headquarters ...Aurora Wheelers ATV Forum | ||||||||||||||||
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outlandish AWF Admin 
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Officials: Ice not safe this early in season By Troy Laack Sheboygan Press staff November 26, 2005 After three people drowned Friday in Sheboygan County after falling through thin ice in two separate incidents, Sheriff Michael Helmke is urging people to stay off the ice. "We haven't had any sustained cold (temperatures) yet," Helmke said. "Last week, it was near 40 degrees some days. "You've really got to exercise some good common sense, use good judgment when you go out on ice, particularly in early winter and spring. The ice is so inconsistent." Brian Obbink, 44, and his 10-year-old daughter, Megan, drowned about 11:30 a.m. Friday after Megan fell through the ice while skating on a pond near Cedar Grove and her father tried to save her, police said. The ice was only 1 inch thick where 12-year-old Cody Lechler of Kiel, driving an ATV, fell through the ice on a small pond near Waldo about 12:40 p.m. Friday, said Cascade Police Chief Cory Roeseler. He died at 9:30 p.m. Friday at Children's Hospital in Wauwatosa, sheriff's deputies said. They were the first fatalities in Sheboygan County related to thin ice since Alexander F. Noster, 84, of Random Lake, died when his car went through thin ice near the shore of Random Lake in February. "You really have to be more cautious before Jan. 1," Roeseler said. "The amounts of ice are going to change at various locations on a lake. Not every place is the same." The state Department of Natural Resources tells people that "ice travel is at your own risk," said Mark Pearce, a conservation warden in Sheboygan County. "Be cautious if you choose to go on the ice," Pearce said. "Check the thickness, check the bait shops, local fisherman and hunters for what they're finding." The ice should be a minimum of 3 inches thick for foot travel, 6 inches for all-terrain vehicles and snowmobiles and 1 foot for vehicles, Pearce said. People can use an ice chisel — an ice-fishing tool — to check the depth of the ice. "That's even in effect a crap-shoot to some extent, because you're dealing with springs, currents and those sorts of things where you might have 6 inches of ice in one spot and you walk 20 feet, it'll be down to 2 inches," Pearce said. "Ice is very irregular in its thickness across a water body, especially on rivers and spring ponds." For people who venture out onto the ice, Pearce recommends wearing a life jacket and going with at least one other person. "It's the old buddy system where you let people know where you're going," Pearce said. "If you're with a companion, hopefully it can minimize things if you do end up getting in trouble." Pearce also recommends carrying ice picks or claws, which are handles with picks on the ends designed to help a person get out of the water. "You can hook into the ice and kick your feet to try to get level with the surface to try to work your way out," Pearce said. "But you're contending with hypothermia, you're contending with your clothes getting waterlogged. You've got a precious few minutes to work yourself back up on top of the ice before you're in big trouble." Gander Mountain in Sheboygan has rescue ice picks that range in price from $5 to $10, said Jeb Reiss, a store manager. Someone who falls through thin ice and doesn't have ice picks should put his or her hands and arms on the unbroken ice and work his or her way forward by kicking, according to the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. Once on the ice, roll away from the hole rather than standing up. If a companion falls through the ice, call 911 first, then try to find an item on shore that can be extended to the victim to be pulled out by the person on solid ice or ground, the department said. "The past several years, we've had a half-dozen ATVs and snowmobiles go through out in the (Sheboygan) Marsh alone," Pearce said. "They were all recovered. We haven't had any fatalities or injuries." Even when temperatures have been cold for extended periods of time, the ice may not be safe for travel, Pearce said. "There isn't a good guideline on that because at this time of year, you're going from open water to making ice," Pearce said. "Just because it's been cold two days does not mean the ice is safe on every water body you set foot on." It's not uncommon for Elkhart Lake to still have open water in the middle at year's end, while other lakes in the county are covered with ice, Pearce said. Elkhart Lake is the deepest inland lake in the county. "The bigger the water volume, the longer it takes to make ice," Pearce said. Reach Troy Laack at tlaack@sheboygan-press.com and 453-5133. How thick the ice should be * At least 3 inches thick for foot travel * At least 6 inches thick for all-terrain vehicles and snowmobiles * At least 1 foot thick for automobiles
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Survey Guy Member 
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How many times do people need to be told!
____________________ Fourwheeling is not a crime! Neither is backhanding a Liberal! |
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zac41 Night Shift Deputy 
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It's just like that first good snow or ice storm of the year when every other car goes in the ditch. They have been driving in the snow/ice for two decades, but after a few months without it they forget that they need to slow down and can't stop on a dime. Same thing over and over every year.
____________________ 06 Outlander 800 XT Camo-Ricochet skidz, HMF pipe, Dobeck, Dalton 03 Honda Rincon- MBRP pipe, Dynojet Kit, K&N  Team Outty 800 Member #4 |
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| Can-Am Headquarters ...Aurora Wheelers ATV Forum > Tips, Toys, Tires, Ads, Misc > Outdoors > Officials: Ice not safe this early in season | |
