After three trucks and a trailer went through the ice Sunday on Lake Winnipeg, it had Craig Stapon scratching his head wondering what it was going to take to convince people to stay off thin ice before it is ready for them.
“Does somebody have to die before they take notice?,” asked Stapon, the Winnipeg Sun‘s outdoors columnist and an experienced angler and guide who witnessed the vehicles smashing through the ice. “Guys are crazy today, they’re all doing it for an extra walleye. It doesn’t make any sense to me. I don’t go out until after Christmas and that’s the way it is.”
The RCMP reported no injuries although a spokesperson said that two people went into the water but managed to get out safely. The Rural Municipality of St. Clements took to social media Sunday night asking citizens to stay off Balsam Bay -about 90 km northeast of Winnipeg – where the vehicles went through the ice.
“There has been numerous vehicles that have got stuck on the ice and the East Beaches Fire and Rescue are attempting to get them off the ice safely but it’s become problematic with others still driving onto to lake,” read the post on the RM’s Facebook page. “Please stay away from the area.”
