Saskatoon Fire Department warning people to stay off melting ice on ponds

The Saskatoon Fire Department is asking people to stay off melting ice on any bodies of water since it may be unstable.

Assistant fire chief Wayne Rodger said staff have evaluated the ice conditions with the arrival of warm weather and have determined the city’s ponds are no longer safe for recreational use.

“The degradation we’re observing along the shoreline could make access treacherous,” Rodger said in a press release.

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“Once the ice starts to deteriorate – as it has this year – the thickness of the ice is no longer an indication of its strength.”

Rodger said multiple factors come into play during the melting season to make ice unstable. This includes sunlight and solar radiation travelling through clear ice causing the water below to warm and melt from the bottom up.

When water is moving above or below the ice surface, such as the inflows to storm retention ponds, it will weaken.

In the same way, river currents constantly affect the quality of the ice, making it unstable and dangerous to be on. The fire department again reminds people to never go on the river ice.