EDMONTON — Edmonton fire crews are warning people to stay off the ice on the North Saskatchewan River.
“The river’s just not a safe place to be,” said District Chief Greg Winter with Edmonton Fire Rescue. “It looks like it may be safe to travel on but it most definitely is not. There is a lot of risk with the ice.”
The warning comes after two young men were spotted walking across the river Wednesday evening.
Fire, police and EMS crews were called to the river shortly after 6 p.m. A witness told police two teens were walking on the ice between the Laurier Park boat launch and the Edmonton Rowing Club.
By the time emergency crews arrived, the boys had made their way off the ice. Fire crews turned to the Global 1 News helicopter to help spot the boys, who had taken off into a treed area near Groat Road. Once the boys were safely off the ice, emergency crews were called off.
With warmer temperatures on the way, and with spaces of open water on the river, Winter is urging people to stay away from the ice.
“It’s extremely dangerous for people and animals to go anywhere near that. The ice is slippery, there are thin sections,” he said. “If a person goes through the ice, they can’t possibly resist the hydraulics of the moving water. So the water is going to carry them downstream and if they find another area that’s covered downstream below that, they are very quickly under the ice and gone.”
For more information on safe ice practices, visit the City of Edmonton’s website.
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