122 people rescued from Upper Red Lake ice chunk
UPPER RED LAKE, Minn. — Over 100 fishermen were rescued after they were stranded on an ice floe on Upper Red Lake Friday afternoon.
The Beltrami County Sheriff said they first received the call around 5 p.m. on Friday. There was roughly 30 feet of open water between the detached ice and the shore, callers said.
"We just kind of started a shuttle service to cross as safely as possible for everybody," said Rick Thayer, the Chief for Kelliher Fire and Rescue.
Before the sheriff's office could get to the scene, bystanders tried to rescue some people using a canoe. However, four people fell into the water during this time.
Tony Nelson and Tiffany Lentz were two of the people who had to be rescued.
"I couldn't breathe," said Nelson.
"He went underwater a couple times," said Lentz.
Lentz said a six-foot crack grew to the size of a river.
"My dad jumped in after him, to try to save him, and everybody there, they all just worked together to try to get Tony and my dad out of the water," said Lentz.
They were pulled back onto the ice floe and went into a fishing shelter to warm up, according to the sheriff.
Crews rescued those four fishermen around 6:40 p.m. Roughly an hour later, crews determined that the rest of the fishermen would need to be evacuated and brought on shore.
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In all, the sheriff's office said 122 people were evacuated from the ice floe. No one was injured.
"I've never seen a year like this," said Marlys Lord Carlson, Marketing Directorfor Greater Minnesota Rental.
Greater Minnesota Rental has been on the lake 17 years, but for almost a month now, they've closed their lake access for safety reasons.
"We're just not able to feel safe for our anglers to be out there," said Carlson.
On Saturday, the Beltrami County Sheriff said that the lake would be under restricted access due to the incident. Starting at sundown and until the sheriff rescinds the order, all vehicles are barred from going on the lake. Violating the order is considered a misdemeanor.