THUNDER BAY – Thunder Bay Fire Fighters came to the rescue of man’s “best friend” today.
Thunder Bay Fire Rescue responded to a report of a dog stranded on an ice floe in the vicinity of New Vickers Street near the Jack Knife bridge on the Kaministiqua River at approximately 2:00 pm EDT today.
An employee of CP Rail who was in the area performing work had noticed the stranded canine and put the call into 911.
Once on scene, TBFR rescue crews located the animal and deployed a two-man ice rescue team to safely retrieve the dog.
TBFR is the only city emergency response personnel specifically trained and equipped to perform technical ice and water rescues.
Once the dog was safely removed from the ice floe, it was returned to the person responsible for the animal as this person eventually arrived on the scene since they were in the area also attempting to locate the dog.
TBFR would like to take this opportunity to remind residents of Thunder Bay and surrounding area that local waterways, rivers, ponds and lakes are beginning to present unsafe ice conditions as temperatures are consistently remaining above the freezing point now. Higher temperatures combined with rain in the forecast will mean ice conditions will continue to degrade and become unpredictable. TBFR advises that people should avoid the ice and open water along local waterways during this time.
