Coast Guard rescues five people from lake Sunday morning

MARBLEHEAD — Three ice fishermen who apparently didn't notice that temperatures had risen above freezing fell through the ice near East Harbor State Park Sunday morning but were brought ashore safely with the help of the Coast Guard. Two other people aboard a vehicle that kept breaking through the ice also were rescued Sunday, for a total of five taken safely off the ice. The three who fell through the water were ice fishermen aboard a four wheeler, said Petty Officer Second Class Sean Nekoloff of the Coast Guard's Marblehead station. They were able to get out of the water after the incident at about 9 a.m. Sunday and get on stronger ice, but their vehicle sank to the bottom of the lake and was lost. A friend aboard a snowmobile witnessed the incident and called for help, Nekoloff said. The incident took place about a mile off the shore of East Harbor State Park. The Coast Guard responded by launching an airboat, a flat bottomed boat, and they took the trio, who reported being very cold, to East Harbor State Park.Meanwhile, the Danbury Township Fire Department was called to East Harbor State Park, where the Coast Guard brought the three, and EMS technicians for the fire department checked the men and made sure that they were OK, said Tim Almendinger, the fire department's assistant chief. "Everybody walked away from it. They walked off the air boat," he said.A dispatcher for the Ottawa County Sheriff's Office said the fire department squad was sent to East Harbor at 9:18 a.m.Nekoloff said the Coast Guard also intervened to help two men who were aboard a Wilcraft, an amphibious ice fishing vehicle. The vehicle broke through the ice, the men were able to drive back onto ice, but the vehicle kept breaking through.The call for the Wilcraft actually came in a few minutes before the other incident, but was less urgent because the men did not end up in the water. After the trio of wet men were taken ashore, however, the Coast Guard went out and took the other two men off their Wilcraft and brought them safely ashore. Their vehicle was still out on the lake as of 2:30 p.m. but was being salvaged by a marine tow boat. Almendinger said it was the fire department's first call for people falling through the ice, but he's worried it may not be the last."I think it's the first of many," he said. "There's still a lot of people out on the ice."Almendinger said that now that temperatures are above freezing, ice fishermen need to be a lot more cautious about venturing out upon the lake."There's a lot of water sitting on top of the ice. It's a telltale sign of weaker ice," Nekaloff said. People venturing out on the ice should have proper equipment, he said. The National Weather Service said the temperature was 44 degrees at 3 p.m. in the Marblehead area. The Ohio Department of Natural Resources advises that "no ice is safe ice" and that an angler with gear needs at least four inches of ice to stand upon, while groups of people need thicker ice.An ice rescue crewmember from Coast Guard Station Marblehead, Ohio, rescues a victim actor from the ice of Lake Erie during Icy Resolve 2013, an ice rescue training exercise held at the station, Feb. 9, 2013.