Woman rescued from icy waters

The Fort Frances Fire and Rescue Services rescued a snowmobiler who went through the ice on Sand Bay on Saturday night.
At 8:14 p.m., firefighters responded to a report that a woman riding a sled had gone through the ice on Rainy Lake. She pulled herself out of the water, but was trapped on an ice floe.

“We staged our rescue from Rusty Myers Flying Service with our boat and succeeded in getting her back to shore,” said firefighting engineer and acting captain Rob Dokuchie, who was involved in the rescue.
Dokuchie explained that for ice rescues like this, firefighters will walk, two people per side, alongside the boat, always maintaining contact with it.
They’ll slide the boat along the ice until the ice gives way. The rescue crew then gets inside the boat to reach the victim, using tools to break any ice in their way.
But at several points during Saturday night’s rescue, crew members had to get back out of the boat and jump on the ice to break it up.
“It was quite an exhausting exercise,” admitted Dokuchie. “As part of the rescue, we actually had to break ice with our bodies to get the boat out to her.”
The woman, whose identity was not released, was stranded an estimated 500 metres from shore, with the rescue operation taking about 40 minutes.
“It seemed like it was taking us forever to get out there,” said Dokuchie. “It was a really hard rescue because ice conditions were so bad.
It was right on the edge, where we couldn’t use the boat but we couldn’t walk on the ice, either.
“We probably had to break 200 metres of ice to get to her,” he added.
Dokuchie noted the woman was “mildly hypothermic” and taken to La Verendrye Hospital for treatment.
She was released later that night.
“We’re all pretty happy. We did a good job,” Dokuchie said. “It worked out well.”
A total of 12 local firefighters responded to the emergency as did five personnel from the International Falls Fire Department who responded to a request to stand by and be ready to assist.
Ambulance and police also were on scene.
With spring on its way, the local fire department is warning snowmobilers to be extra cautious when riding on area lakes and rivers.
“The ice conditions are getting really bad, especially where the water’s moving,” stressed Dokuchie. “This happened really quick on this area of the lake. The ice deteriorated really fast.”
“People really have to be cognizant this time of year,” echoed Fire Chief Gerry Armstrong. “The weather’s been warm now for a few days and the areas where there’s current, the ice is going to be very thin.”