Thirty-four fishermen rescued from floating ice ‘chunk’
Thirty-four people were rescued from a floating chunk of ice that broke away from shore in the bay of Green Bay in eastern Wisconsin on Saturday morning.
The chunk of ice floated about three-quarters of a mile during the rescue and was about a mile from the shoreline by the time everyone was brought to solid ground, according to the Daily Mail.
Shane Nelson, one of the stranded, told WLUK: “It sounded like, almost, somebody fired a gun out there.
“We thought it was interesting, got out of our shanty, took a look and people were yelling on the ice ‘we’re separating’.”
The Brown County Sheriff’s Office was aided by local fire departments, the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources and the US Coast Guard in the rescue. Two airboats were used to bring the individuals back to safety.
During the rescue mission, the ice chunk continued to float away from shore, cracking and rapidly deteriorating as the open water pounded at its edges.
Authorities attributed the efficiency of the rescue to the hardworking first responders and the use of airboats.
“Their ability to carry up to eight additional passengers aside from rescue personnel, and ability to traverse ice and water terrain greatly cut down on the amount of time and risk this rescue took,” says a statement from the sheriff’s office.
