Snowmachine falls through creek, driver OK

HOUSTON — A friendly reminder from your local fire department — if you put your snowmachine through the ice, it’s up to you to get it out.

Monday night, Houston ambulances and rescuers, the West Lakes Fire Department, the Mat-Su Dive Team and Houston police were called out to help a snowmachiner who’d dropped through the ice.

Houston Fire Department Spokesman Christian Hartley said the call was to respond to Kenlar Creek. But there is no such creek. Responders eventually figured out that the creek in question was Meadow Creek, which runs under Kenlar Road behind the Meadow Wood Mall and into a local lake.

Hartley said that the rider had been out with his brother, who called from a cell phone for the response.

“He was very lucky he had someone with him who could call,” Hartley said.

Houston Fire Chief Tom Hood said his responders arrived and found a 17-year-old male standing on his snowmachine in the middle of the creek. At first responders couldn’t really tell why they’d been called.

“It was 3 feet wide and 3 feet deep,” Hood said. “He could’ve stepped off his snowmachine and walked up to the road.”

He said that his rescuers walked the teen off the creek, put him on a department snowmachine and drove him up to an ambulance. Once in the ambulance, he said, the teen told rescuers he’d thought they would be able to help him extricate the snowmachine.

“We recover the victim,” Hood said. “Basically that’s up to the individual to figure out a way to get his machine out of there.”

—Andrew Wellner