Stay off the ice: warm weather causing unsafe conditions

Grabbing a pair of skates and hitting your local frozen pond or lake is a favourite winter pastime for many Canadians, but there are hidden dangers that lurk beneath the surface.

The Calgary Fire Department warns that this innocent-sounding winter activity could become a tragedy without the proper precautions.

“With the temperature fluctuations that we experience here in Calgary, there’s just no guarantees for the safety of the ice,” said Carol Henke, the public information officer for the Calgary Fire Department.

Henke says it’s best to avoid frozen rivers, storm ponds, creeks, community lakes, and the reservoir during the winter months.

The warning comes after two separate reports of children falling through the ice at Lake Sundance this month.

“A teenager was skating, I guess they back onto the lake, and an area was cleared on the ice and stepped off the cleared area and broke through the ice, sort of up to the midsection,” explained Henke.

“Then, a few days ago in the evening, two younger kids were skating on Lake Sundance and one went to retrieve a puck that had gone a little further away and he wound up breaking through up to his neck.”

Read more:

• Knowing the dangers of thin ice heading into winter

• Calgary Fire warns of storm pond skating dangers

• Worker hospitalized after falling through ice of southeast Calgary lake

Luckily both kids made it to safety, but Henke says it could have turned out much worse.

For those worst-case scenarios, the Trico Center for Family Wellness teaches swimmers what to do if they fall through the ice.

“Keep your arms out, remain as calm as possible while trying to slowly pull yourself out,” said Kaylin McKay, an aquatics coordinator at the centre.

“She’ll push away any loose ice chips around her, and start an army crawl on the mats, keeping herself nice and wide throughout the whole point, you can roll as well. You just want to keep your body weight distributed throughout the whole process to make sure you’re not making more cracks in that ice as you go through.”

If you see someone fall through the ice, McKay recommends using a long item like a tree branch, hockey stick, or rope to pull them out. Going onto the ice to rescue someone can put you at risk of falling through yourself.

“If you fall through, your whole body will go into shock, it’s like taking a giant ice bath that you weren’t prepared to take.”

WATCH: CityNews’ Kristy Kilburn speaks with the Calgary Fire Department on how to stay safe on the ice this winter.

Henke says it’s common for people to fall through the ice while chasing after pets.

“Then the owners went out after them. Then, we not only had to rescue an animal, we had to rescue a person as well. So, it becomes very dangerous, especially if no one is around to see it and you can’t get yourself out,” Henke said.

According to The Lifesaving Society: “Approximately 35 per cent of drownings in Canada occur from October to April. Snowmobiling and ice accidents account for most of these incidents.”

“We want everyone to be enjoying the outdoors but as safely as possible and avoid those dangerous areas,” said Henke.