People are being warned to stay off the ice on lakes and rivers in Greater Moncton.
The ice is nowhere near thick enough for walking or skating, said Riverview Fire and Rescue’s Deputy Chief of Training Robin True.
“It hasn’t frozen up early this year at all,” he said.
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True says the weather has been simply too mild to freeze the ice to a safe thickness for skaters. He said that people should not venture out at all on any body of water that is deep enough to drown in.
Fire crews in Greater Moncton have already responded to at least two ice rescues this past month.
True said a woman called 911 after she fell through the ice along the Dobson trail in Riverview in mid-December.
“Trying to save a dog that had gone out on the ice” said True.
He said ice rescue crews responded but the woman and her dog managed to make it out of the water safely on their own.
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But fire crews with the Moncton Fire Department had to rescue an 11-year-old boy who fell through the ice in a retention pond in Fairview Knoll Park on January 20th.
“Two of our water technicians slid out onto the ice to get to the boy with ropes and equipment and tied him off and pulled in back to shore,” said Deputy Chief Brian McDonald.
The City of Moncton has placed thin ice warning signs near waterways such as Jones Lake and Jonathan Creek.
Austin Henderson, Communications Officer for the City of Moncton, said when conditions permit people will be able to skate on neighbourhood ice surfaces throughout the city.
“The city has numerous safe ice skating facilities that it monitors for residents to enjoy, including the Ian Fowler Oval outside of the Avenir Centre, which is currently open.”
He said that the City of Moncton does not monitor nor measure ice thickness on area lakes and/or ponds for safe skating.
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