Officials warn of thin ice

MAT-SU — For now, at least, Mat-Su Borough officials are urging residents to stay off recently formed ice on area lakes.

“We’ve been called out to Wasilla Lake like six times for people being out on the ice. We haven’t had to do any rescues,” Assistant Central Mat-Su Fire Chief Michael Keenan said Monday morning.

The calls coming in are mostly from people concerned that the ice isn’t safe yet. Keenan said people his crews have talked to are often confused when told it’s not safe to be out on the ice.

“People are going, ‘well, it’s 2 feet thick here,’” he said.

Indeed, Keenan said he’s already seen at least one vehicle on the lake. But ice doesn’t cover a lake uniformly. In fact, that’s one of the reasons the borough doesn’t monitor ice thickness — it’s hard to predict.

Lakes like Wasilla Lake have springs running through them that cause ice to be thinner in spots. Wind also can also contribute to thinning of ice in some spots.

“You could see the channels that it opened up when the wind blew really hard last week. Those areas are still pretty thin,” Keenan said of the lake ice.

Mat-Su Borough Emergency Manager Casey Cook agreed that right now is probably not a good time to be out on the ice.

“It hasn’t been cold enough yet, I don’t think, for the ice to really get formed,” he said.

But once it is thick enough, Cook offered some tips for staying relatively safe on the ice.

“If there’s still open water out in the middle of the lake or the pond, people probably shouldn’t be out on the ice,” he said. “If it snaps crackles or pops when you step off of the beach onto the ice, don’t go out on the ice.”

If you hear the ice start to crack, get down on your belly and spread your weight out.

If you see someone has broken through the ice, call 911 and the dive team will be dispatched.

“Try not to put more undue weight on the ice by going out and rescuing people, unless you can reach them with a branch or a paddle,” Cook said.

That’s kind of the mantra for ice — reach, throw, go.

“If you can reach them reach them, if you can throw something, do it,” Cook said. “Last case scenario would be going.”

As in, going out to the person, hopefully on something stable like a boat if possible.

As so many hapless drivers have found in notoriously thin areas like the channel between the two parts of Wasilla Lake off the Palmer-Wasilla Highway, people should take care to stay away from ice over moving water.

“That’s going to be even less stable ice because it’s got current coming through it and it’s not letting it form up right,” Cook said.

Contact reporter Andrew Wellner at andrew.wellner@frontiersman.com or 352-2270.