While the sight of a frozen river or stream may look pretty, the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission (PFBC) is warning everyone to stay off of moving bodies of water that have frozen this winter.  Along the Susquehanna RIver near Harrisburg today, the PFBC said when a thick crust of ice forms on rivers statewide, the phenomenon attracts curious onlookers wishing to see the ice up close, and there is a temptation to walk out onto the ice.

Unlike lakes and ponds which, when frozen with a thick layer of ice, can produce recreational opportunities such as ice fishing and skating, moving bodies of water such as rivers and streams are never safe to walk on. With rapid current flowing beneath the ice, the frozen surface remains unstable and treacherous. A fll into any frigid water can cause rapid hypothermia, inhalation of water, and can lead to drowning. When falling through river ice, a victim will be swept under the ice by strong current, and can become trapped beneath the ice.

Emergencies involving victims who have walked onto frozen rivers also put first responders at risk during rescues.

When ice fishing or even ice skating on a lake or pond, the PFBC recommends at least 4 inches of ice, and to always wer a life jacket or coat with flotation built in. For more information on approved ice recreation, including ice fishing, on non-moving waters such as lakes and ponds, visit the PFBC Website: https://www.pa.gov/agencies/fishandboat/fishing/basics/ice-fishing.

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Sound Bites:

Ryan Walt, PFBC Ice Safety Specialist:

“Throughout the Commonwealth this winter, we’ve had cold temperatures, so from Philadelphia to Pittsburgh to Erie, to the Poconos, you know, there’s different ice conditions everywhere. It’s always changing. But What we really want to get across is, on moving water, if there’s ice on there, please don’t venture out on it. It may look enticing. It may lookm strong, but it’s not, and it’s not safe. So, don’t put yourself at risk, and don’t put first repsonders at risk.”

“What we’re really here for at the Fort Hunter Access on the Susquehanna River today is to talk about ice on moving bodies of water, and how that is a hazard, and we want to encourage folks to stay off of any type of stream, creek, river, that has ice building on it. Just because it is absolutely a hazard to go out on that ice. The thickness varies. It may be an illusion that you can walk ouot onto that ice and its going to hold you, where you could take a step and you could fall right through and actually be swept underneath the ice mantle itself.”

“Because the last thing you want to do is fall through the ice and get yourself in trouble or get your friends in trouble, and then ultimatley, put first responders at rick to go out and effect a rescue.”

“In a pond of lake situation, if you were to fall through the ice, a hundred percent, we recommend wearing a life jacket or float coat, because that’s going to increase your chances of survival ten-fold, so we definily recommend wearing that even if you’re just going out ice skating. However, on moving water, regardless of whether you were wearing a life jacket or not, if you plunge through that ice, there’s current underneath there, and people underestimate the power of water, so you fall through and you can actually get swept underneath that ice mantle and there’s nowhere to go. You’re trapped.”

“Absolutely do not go out on moving water, on ice that’s on moving water.  There’s a lot of different fluctuations. Thicknesses change, as well as there’s current that’s underneath that ice. It is not safe. And if you do want to out and recreate, go out fishing or play hockey on a pond, lake, or impoundment, you can do that. What we recommend is that the ice be a minimum of four inches of thickness, or good clear ice to go oout and do some of those activities.”

Derrick Noonan, Waterways Conservation Officer: 

“We understand that people want to come down, take pictures, look at it.  But we ask that you stay off the ice, because at that point, you’re putting yourself at risk. You’re putting other people at risk to fall through.  So, we ask that you stay off of any river that is frozen.”

“We ask that you stay off the ice. You’re not only putting yourself at risk, you’e putting the lives of first responders at risk that are gong to have to come out and help you. So, we ask for your own safety and the safety of first responders, please stay off the ice.”

“If you fall through the ice, you’re not going to stay in one spot.  The current is ripping below the ice.  That current will pull you down under the point of entry where you went thorugh the ice and it will be very difficult for you to make it back to the original hole and make rescue efforts very difficult.”