With winter recreation underway, concerns about thin ice abound. The good news about ice danger – Mammoth Fire Department has new equipment for ice rescues. They are urging residents and visitors to call them if a person or a pet falls through the ice. They have an effective way to help. Cleland Hoff talked to Bill Anderson, Division Chief of Training for MLVFD explained that the specially designed raft or flotation device is used to pull someone out of the water under ice. Previously, rescue crews would hand a victim a rope and pull him out of the ice.

Anderson brought up the tragic ice deaths at Convict Lake in 1991 in which 7 people, including children from Camp O’Neal, fell through the ice and died. Two rescuers did too. Anderson said with tools like the new rescue raft, rescue will be much safer and more effective.

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