Man plucked from the frigid water along Kingston’s shoreline

Paramedics were on the scene at the La Salle Causeway in Kingston, Ont., Monday afternoon after a man in his 20s went through the ice and into the open water below the bridge.

Paramedics say they treated the young man for hypothermia-like symptoms. He was transported to hospital in stable, non-life threatening condition.

It is the second time in as many days that people have been rescued from ice in the region.

Early Sunday morning, two men plunged through the ice with their ATV on the Bay of Quinte.

Two anglers nearby heard their cries for help, about three kilometres off the shore of the George Street boat launch in Belleville. Both men survived. They were prepared as both were wearing float bibs and float suits.

Cory Davis, an avid ice fisherman and employee of Frontenac Outfitters, warns people to pay attention to where rivers and streams feed and exit the lake.

“You have a lot of that moving water, which is going to eat away at the ice underneath,” he said. “In that area, there is really thin ice. But a couple feet away it’s really, really thick so it can be deceiving.”

On Saturday, a pickup truck fell through the ice on Beaver Lake north of Napanee. Both occupants managed to get out safely.

Davis suggests you use a metal ‘stud.’ It looks like a long spade.

“As you are walking out on the ice, you’re just going to take it and chip away at the ice ahead of you,” said Davis.

“When you see that clear black looking ice, that’s all solid. That’s good ice. When you see that more white flaky looking ice that’s not solid”, Davis says, “you have to think before you act. If you are being smart and using your brain, then a lot of these accidents can be avoided.”