MARINE CORPS BASE QUANTICO, Va. -- As tempting as it is to many people to want to walk out onto the beautiful, ice-covered rivers and ponds aboard Marine Corps Base Quantico, both Quantico and Stafford County fire chiefs are warning you not to do it.
"You want to stay off the stuff, regardless of how thick you think it is," said Steve Houchin, assistant chief of fire prevention for Quantico.
Despite several recent days of sub-freezing temperatures, the icy coating on the various ponds, lakes, streams and rivers aboard MCBQ will not support human weight. The water in the rivers and streams is constantly moving, preventing a thick enough layer of ice from forming. Even on the shallower ponds, it has not been cold enough for a long enough period to provide a safe thickness to walk on.
Houchin recalled having to rescue duck hunters in the past who have gotten themselves into trouble on the ice. They had become stuck in the icy mud or blocked in by ice in their boats and required assistance getting out.
Assistant Chief Mark Doyle, of the Stafford County Fire and Rescue Department, tells people, "The only ‘safe’ ice is at a skating arena."
Doyle said that daily temperature changes and fluctuations in underwater currents affect the thickness and strength of ice on lakes and ponds, and the climate in the region prevents the ice from being safe to walk on.
Doyle recommended against citizens going out onto the ice at all, even to assist people or animals in danger, as the would-be rescuers can often find themselves in serious danger. He described a "reach, throw, row" technique for citizens who come upon an incident before police or firefighters arrive. Doyle said people should first call 911 if they see a person in trouble on the ice. Then, depending on how far from shore the victim is, a good Samaritan can reach out with a branch or pole, throw a rope or life preserver, or slide out on the ice in a small boat.
Doyle recounted how the department had to rescue a horse that had fallen through the ice on a pond on a nearby farm last month. The department, with the aid of the Technical Large Animal Rescue Team from the Little Fork Volunteer Fire and Rescue Department in Culpeper, was able to get the horse to safety and bring its body temperature back up with heated blankets and warm intravenous fluids.
Tragically, three boys died in Maryland in January after falling through the thin ice on ponds near their homes. As reported on the CBS Baltimore website, on Jan. 13 a 10-year-old boy died after he and two friends fell through the ice on a pond in Gaithersburg.
As reported on the ABC 7 website, on Jan. 17, 7-year-old Zae died after he fell through the ice on a retention pond near his home. Zae’s cousin, who was with him at the time, ran home to get his mother, but it was too late; he was pronounced dead upon arrival at the hospital.
Tragedy struck again on Jan. 26, when 13-year-old Kyron and his three friends fell through the ice on Hillcrest Pond. Kyron died several hours later at the hospital, one boy remained hospitalized for three weeks, and the two other boys were released on the 26th.
Parents are advised to talk to their children about not playing on the ice under any circumstances and to call 911 if they do see someone out on the ice covering MCBQ’s various bodies of water.
— Writer: ebaker@quanticosentryonline.com