With thin ice, northern Minnesota lakes get extended rescue season

DULUTH - An ice floe that broke free on Upper Red Lake recently stranded 122 anglers with 30 feet of open water between them and the shoreline — instigating one of seven rescues the Beltrami County Sheriff's Office has assisted in this season.

Canoeists tried ferrying people to shore before emergency responders got to the scene Friday and used the Department of Natural Resource's airboat and another boat to cart people across the water. In less than two hours, the anglers had all made it safely back to shore with no reported injuries, according to the county.

Rescues are common; the duration of this year's rescue season is not.

"This has gone on longer than most years past," said Beltrami County Sheriff Jason Riggs.

Typically, anglers would be towing wheel houses onto the ice at the popular northern Minnesota fishing destination by now. This year, high temperatures and rain have kept the ice from firming up and locking into a solid mass on the lake and others. There is still open water, so a wind change can dislodge a floe from the shoreline. Riggs' rescue count is only those that have been officially documented; he's heard of smaller-scale instances handled by local resort owners.

Riggs didn't sleep the night after the large-scale operation, he said. He had to make the tough decision to ban vehicles — including ATVs — on Upper Red Lake. Meanwhile, an ice assessment team is keeping watch on the area via drones and planes.

"This isn't something we take lightly," he said. "It affects people and the economy."

It has been a season of superlatives. When the Minnesota State Climatology Office plotted dots marking the statewide averages for precipitation and temperature for December 2023 vs. Decembers dating back to 1895, the most recent numbers were far-flung spots beyond the confines of the chart. Precipitation was between 2.2 and 2.8 inches and the temperature was between 29 and 32 degrees. Previously, the warmest average was 24 degrees in 2015 and the wettest average was 2.05 inches in 1968.

Kevin Waldo is a co-owner of West Wind Resort in Waskish, Minn., which is on a section of Upper Red Lake with ice a foot deep. The ice sheet extends about 4 miles before it cracks or hits open water, he said. A few days ago, the resort's owners limited its available rentals to on-shore housing. Waldo said with a recent span of lower temperatures, they might be able to put day houses on the ice this weekend.

"We're a business and we want to be busy," he said. "We want to do it in the safest possible way. We think the sheriff's department has done a great job of keeping everyone safe."

Waldo is also among the dozens of volunteers on the Kelliher Fire Department, which brought in a boat and assisted in the large-scale ice floe rescue last week. It's a well-equipped squad with its own flat-bottomed johnboat with a motor and an inflatable boat. The key is assessing a situation, he said.

"If there's good ice on both sides of a crack, it's easy to bring people back and forth," Waldo said. "It goes pretty smooth as long as everyone listens."

The department's very active Facebook page shows recent events, labeled as "teachable moments" with a message to followers to learn, but not bash those rescued: "no negative comments," they add to the posts.

"There were so many rescues and no one wants to see anything bad happen," Waldo said.

Recently, the crew aided in the rescue of three fishermen who broke through the ice with an ATV pulling a trailer. Two of the men fell into the water but were able to get out and weren't injured. Authorities found them a mile from the shore.

In mid-December, a smaller scale ice floe incident involved 27 anglers who were stranded for nearly three hours.

Farther north: On New Year's Day, 50 people in total were rescued from dangerous ice situations on Lake of the Woods, according to a news release from the Sheriff's Office. In one case, Long Point Resort used a boat to carry anglers across a pressure ridge. Airboats, snowmobiles and utility terrain vehicles were used.

John F. Frey of Prairie du Sac, Wis., drowned last week when a commercial transport tracked vehicle went through the Northwest Angle near Flag Island on Lake of the Woods. The seven other passengers in the Bombardier, en route to a fishing spot, escaped. The Cass County dive team found Frey's body in 10 feet of water.

Frey's death is believed to be one of two ice-related deaths this winter. An Osage, Minn., man broke through the ice on his ATV on Big Toad Lake east of Detroit Lakes. Authorities found his body Dec. 23.