Ontario Provincial Police say a 70-year-old man was rescued from Lake Erie off Norfolk County.
It happened shortly after 11:30 a.m. Sunday off of Booth Harbour in St. Williams. Police were called to that location, along with Norfolk County paramedics and the Norfolk County Fire Department, on a report of a male stranded on the water just offshore.
In a Periscope video shared via the OPP West Region's Twitter account, Constable Ed Sanchuk said it took firefighters from three stations to rescue the man, who had gone out to a hut for ice fishing earlier in the morning. The man had an ice pick and was able to hunker down until rescuers arrived.
The man was unhurt, but Sanchuk says ice fishing is out of the question when conditions are not so favourable.
"We need people to use some common sense," said Sanchuk. "Not only did he risk his own life to go out on the ice, but he risked the lives of the emergency personnel that attended today...today is not a day to be ice fishing."
The location of the rescue was challenging because there was both open water and open ice, said Sanchuk, who added that it was fortunate that the man did not fall through.
The OPP is using this incident to remind people of its #NoIceIsSafeIce initiative, which encourages people to stay off the ice when conditions and temperatures are not ideal.
https://twitter.com/OPP_WR/status/1099749594114621440
