RED LAKE, Minn. — Three fishermen are fortunate to be alive after falling through the compromised ice on Upper Red Lake Thursday night.
The Beltrami County Sheriff's Office says dispatchers received a 911 call shortly before 8 p.m. but the connection was bad. A dispatcher made multiple attempts for call back but there was no response. Just four minutes after the initial contact another 911 call came in reporting that an ATV and trailer with three occupants had fallen through the ice.
First responders were dispatched, and at approximately 8:20 p.m., reported seeing the three men more than a mile from shore off Joas Beach Road NE on the southeastern side of Upper Red Lake. The Kelliher Fire and Rescue Team was able to reach the stranded anglers and safely transport them to shore a bit after 9 p.m.
The fishermen told authorities they accidentally headed the wrong way while trying to return to a resort and broke through a pressure ridge in the ice. All three were checked out by paramedics and released.
Thursday's incident follows two others that involved people going through the ice. On Tuesday, two would-be ice anglers tried to land a Cessna single-engine aircraft on ice they believed was safe, but the plane slid onto thinner ice and plunged into Upper Red Lake. Both survived.
Three days before that, rescue teams were forced to use an airboat to pluck 35 anglers off an ice flow that had broken away from shore.
Beltrami County Sheriff Jason Riggs warned again that ice conditions in the region vary greatly due to unseasonable December temps, and things will only get worse with steady rain predicted for Sunday and Monday.
"Use extreme caution if you venture on area lakes and check the ice thickness frequently," the sheriff warned in a news release announcing the most recent ice incident.
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