12-8-14 lake winnebago ice rescue

On Sunday, December 07, 2014, at approximately 11:29 am, the Fond du Lac County Communications Center received a call for help from 5 ice fishermen who were stranded on Lake Winnebago approximately one-half mile out from the Village of Pipe in Fond du Lac County.  The subjects, who ranged from 16 years of age to 20 years of age, advised they became stranded when the wind switched and opened up a crack in the ice which they were unable to cross.      Rescue personnel from the Fond du Lac County Sheriff’s Office Dive Team responded along with the Town of Calumet Fire Department and Mt. Calvary Ambulance.  Utilizing the Sheriff’s Office Amphibious Rescue Craft, personnel were able to safely rescue all 5 subjects and their personal fishing gear.     The crack that stranded the fisherman had opened to approximately 50 yards wide, the ice around it had also become unstable.  This crack and the unsafe ice associated with it travels from an area of approximately Fisherman’s Road in Fond du Lac County and continues north into Calumet County approximately one-quarter to one-half mile off shore.  This area of ice is unstable and dangerous.  There is also another similar area which runs due west from the Fisherman’s Road area across Lake Winnebago.  This area appears to be approximately 100 yards wide in areas.  This area of ice is unstable and dangerous.     These areas are not freezing and with the warm weather and wind, will continue to remain open and move.  What may appear as solid, stable ice can and will open up depending on the wind directions.    The Sheriff’s Office always advises that no ice is safe ice, and with the conditions that exist as they do now on Lake Winnebago, the ice is extremely dangerous as the conditions can change by the minute.