Fishermen rescued from frigid open waters of Lake Superior
By
Kevin Byrne, AccuWeather senior editor
Updated Feb 11, 2021 3:27 PM EDT
Members of the Duluth fire department rescued about 30 people who were fishing on Lake Superior on Feb. 9 when their ice floe separated from shore and left them stranded in the water.
More than two dozen fishermen were rescued this week after a large chunk of ice broke away from the Lake Superior shoreline and drifted out onto the open waters toward Canada.
Members of the fire department in Duluth, Minnesota, responded to the scene Tuesday morning in multiple waves, Assistant Fire Chief Dennis Edwards told AccuWeather.
Rescuers were at the lake within a minute and were able to make contact with the fishermen. Eventually, the fire department was able to deploy an inflatable boat with a motor to bring the anglers back to shore in groups of about three or four at a time.
In total, 27 fishermen were rescued and brought back to land over the course of the hour-long rescue, according to Edwards. No injuries were reported.
First responders bringing some of the fishermen off the lake. (City of Duluth)
"It was good to see all the fishermen get off the ice, and they got some of their equipment -- not all of it," Edwards said.
John Smith, one of the rescued fishermen, told the Star Tribune that he and his cousin, Porter, had been in their icehouse off the shoreline when they heard a loud crack and soon realized they were drifting into the open lake.
"Lake Superior is not forgiving," Smith said to the Star Tribune.
Winds on Wednesday around the Duluth were strong enough to cause whitecaps on the lake, Edwards noted. Amid the brutal cold, which produced a high temperature of only 2 F Tuesday in Duluth, the rescue boat started icing up as it was sprayed by the icy water.
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"We made the call that it wasn't safe enough to go back and retrieve their equipment," Edwards said. "We'll see what happens [Wednesday], what the wind conditions are like."
"There's thousands of dollars worth of stuff out there altogether," Porter Smith told the Star Tribune.
Temperatures only reached a high of -1 in Duluth on Wednesday, according to the AccuWeather forecast. A normal high for this time of year is 22. Wind gusts were as high as 24 mph on Wednesday.
The U.S. Coast Guard, Duluth Police Department and the St. Louis County Rescue Squad also contributed to the rescue efforts.
Duluth Fire Chief Shawn Krizaj told the Star Tribune that similar rescues happen about once a winter, but the one on Tuesday was the biggest in several years.
Lake Superior is at only 10.1% ice coverage, which is below normal for this time of year, but many of its bays have become more covered recently, the Star Tribune reported. Total ice coverage on the Great Lakes is currently 24.4%, a number that has increased dramatically over the last several days due to waves of Arctic air that have continued to pour across the north-central U.S. because of the displacement of the polar vortex. On Saturday, Feb. 6, total coverage was around 12.6%.
This is the second large rescue involving ice fishermen in the Great Lakes region within a week. On Thursday, Feb. 4, the U.S. Coast Guard, and several other agencies helped rescue 66 people who were stuck on ice floes in a bay in northeastern Wisconsin, The Associated Press reported. High winds linked to a winter storm helped push the ice floes away from the shore, the AP said. No injuries were reported as a result of that incident.
Dennis Edwards, assistant fire chief for the Duluth Fire Department, spoke to AccuWeather about the rescue.
Edwards, who said he's a sportsman as well, understands the allure of ice fishing, particularly when the fish are biting. But, he pointed out, Lake Superior is a different type of place to fish, and "it's never completely safe."
"Because the lake hasn't frozen over completely, those chunks can break off at any time. And we had a 15-mph wind from the shore out over the lake, and that's what caused [the ice to break away from shore]" he said, adding that the fisherman did the right thing by waiting for help, rather than attempting to swim back to shore.
Edwards said there are several safety precautions people should practice when preparing to go fishing on the frozen lakes, including keeping a cell phone handy, telling people where you plan to fish and constantly checking the weather forecast.
"Normally in ice fishing, you think about checking the depth or the thickness of the ice," he said. "But on Lake Superior, it's more than that, it's the weather, the wind, wind direction. So I think several of [the fishermen] learned a lesson today, and I'm glad our guys and gals were able to make sure everybody got back safe."
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News / Winter Weather
Fishermen rescued from frigid open waters of Lake Superior
By Kevin Byrne, AccuWeather senior editor
Updated Feb 11, 2021 3:27 PM EDT
Members of the Duluth fire department rescued about 30 people who were fishing on Lake Superior on Feb. 9 when their ice floe separated from shore and left them stranded in the water.
More than two dozen fishermen were rescued this week after a large chunk of ice broke away from the Lake Superior shoreline and drifted out onto the open waters toward Canada.
Members of the fire department in Duluth, Minnesota, responded to the scene Tuesday morning in multiple waves, Assistant Fire Chief Dennis Edwards told AccuWeather.
Rescuers were at the lake within a minute and were able to make contact with the fishermen. Eventually, the fire department was able to deploy an inflatable boat with a motor to bring the anglers back to shore in groups of about three or four at a time.
In total, 27 fishermen were rescued and brought back to land over the course of the hour-long rescue, according to Edwards. No injuries were reported.
First responders bringing some of the fishermen off the lake. (City of Duluth)
"It was good to see all the fishermen get off the ice, and they got some of their equipment -- not all of it," Edwards said.
John Smith, one of the rescued fishermen, told the Star Tribune that he and his cousin, Porter, had been in their icehouse off the shoreline when they heard a loud crack and soon realized they were drifting into the open lake.
"Lake Superior is not forgiving," Smith said to the Star Tribune.
Winds on Wednesday around the Duluth were strong enough to cause whitecaps on the lake, Edwards noted. Amid the brutal cold, which produced a high temperature of only 2 F Tuesday in Duluth, the rescue boat started icing up as it was sprayed by the icy water.
CLICK HERE FOR THE FREE ACCUWEATHER APP
"We made the call that it wasn't safe enough to go back and retrieve their equipment," Edwards said. "We'll see what happens [Wednesday], what the wind conditions are like."
"There's thousands of dollars worth of stuff out there altogether," Porter Smith told the Star Tribune.
Temperatures only reached a high of -1 in Duluth on Wednesday, according to the AccuWeather forecast. A normal high for this time of year is 22. Wind gusts were as high as 24 mph on Wednesday.
The U.S. Coast Guard, Duluth Police Department and the St. Louis County Rescue Squad also contributed to the rescue efforts.
Duluth Fire Chief Shawn Krizaj told the Star Tribune that similar rescues happen about once a winter, but the one on Tuesday was the biggest in several years.
Lake Superior is at only 10.1% ice coverage, which is below normal for this time of year, but many of its bays have become more covered recently, the Star Tribune reported. Total ice coverage on the Great Lakes is currently 24.4%, a number that has increased dramatically over the last several days due to waves of Arctic air that have continued to pour across the north-central U.S. because of the displacement of the polar vortex. On Saturday, Feb. 6, total coverage was around 12.6%.
This is the second large rescue involving ice fishermen in the Great Lakes region within a week. On Thursday, Feb. 4, the U.S. Coast Guard, and several other agencies helped rescue 66 people who were stuck on ice floes in a bay in northeastern Wisconsin, The Associated Press reported. High winds linked to a winter storm helped push the ice floes away from the shore, the AP said. No injuries were reported as a result of that incident.
Dennis Edwards, assistant fire chief for the Duluth Fire Department, spoke to AccuWeather about the rescue.
Edwards, who said he's a sportsman as well, understands the allure of ice fishing, particularly when the fish are biting. But, he pointed out, Lake Superior is a different type of place to fish, and "it's never completely safe."
"Because the lake hasn't frozen over completely, those chunks can break off at any time. And we had a 15-mph wind from the shore out over the lake, and that's what caused [the ice to break away from shore]" he said, adding that the fisherman did the right thing by waiting for help, rather than attempting to swim back to shore.
Edwards said there are several safety precautions people should practice when preparing to go fishing on the frozen lakes, including keeping a cell phone handy, telling people where you plan to fish and constantly checking the weather forecast.
"Normally in ice fishing, you think about checking the depth or the thickness of the ice," he said. "But on Lake Superior, it's more than that, it's the weather, the wind, wind direction. So I think several of [the fishermen] learned a lesson today, and I'm glad our guys and gals were able to make sure everybody got back safe."
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