FORT FRANCES - Since the region is experiencing warmer-than-normal weather patterns, officers want residents to understand that there are many dangers when walking on thin ice.
In certain spots, large bodies of water have yet to completely freeze. However, the water is cold enough at this time of year to cause hypothermia and death for even the strongest of swimmers.
The OPP says that those walking out onto the frozen rivers and lakes remember the "1-10-1."
“If you fall in, you have one minute to catch your breath, 10 minutes of active movement and one hour to get rescued. After an hour in freezing water, hypothermia sets in and death becomes a real possibility.”
Otherwise, stay off the ice if unaware of the thickness because “there is no such thing as 100 per cent safe ice.”
Children should always be supervised when they are playing outside. They may wander or want to play near rivers, ponds, creeks, ditches, etc. A child can drown in less than two inches of water.
The OPP reminds residents that “no ice is safe ice” and they “respond to reports every year of people falling through the ice - including fatalities.”
