LAPORTE – The thaw overnight has created dangerous conditions on area lakes and ponds.
Crews were called out to Clear Lake to rescue David Rogers from the frozen water. Emergency crews say he was walking across the ice when he fell into about eight feet of water. A witness called 911. The LaPorte City Fire Department was first on the scene and helped get him out.
Officers with the Department of Natural Resources say no ice in the area is safe.
"It's been a funny year, very dangerous this year and we haven't had the good ice that we've had in years past," said Conservation Officer Mark Richter.
Richter says you need to have between three and four inches of ice before you walk on it. He also says you need several days in a row of very low temperatures before the ice is good and strong, something we haven't had yet this season.
"What we like to do is have some really cold crisp nights to create some hard black ice, what we call," Richter said.
That "black ice," is very dark and isn't covered in snow and doesn’t' have standing water on top of it. But Richter says no matter how thick the ice is, people still need to be safe.
"Always take extra precautions. Have your ice picks with you if you fall through it helps you get out of the hole you make. Have your cell phone with you, have your friend, take a buddy with you. Tell somebody that you're going and give a time that you're going to come back," he said.
If you do fall in, Richter says you need to keep calm and try to launch yourself out of the water. He says you need to try to stay low and use your elbows to crawl away from the hole.
