Frozen lake rescue descends into chaos in California

[Liberal_in_LA]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/9772580/Frozen-lake-rescue-descends-into-chaos-in-California.html

Frozen lake rescue descends into chaos in California
The rescue of a man who had plunged into the freezing waters at Lake Jackson in California on Christmas Day descends into chaos as his rescuers begin to inadvertently follow him into the icy lake.

11:31AM GMT 31 Dec 2012

Amateur video captured the terrifying minutes when several people got into difficulty in the icy waters at Lake Jackson in Wrightwood, California as the rescue of one man descended into chaos on Christmas Day.

The incident began when one man sledding on the largely frozen lake fell into the water, prompting a handful of onlookers to come to his aid.

The first person on the scene then slipped into the lake after the ice beneath his feet gave way. Attempting to pull himself out, this man then inadvertently pulled yet another into the dangerously cold waters.

As ropes and rubber rings were produced to rescue them from the freezing depths, yet more of the ice began to give way reportedly leaving as many as 12 people in the lake.

Eventually, everyone was pulled to safety.

[CreekDog]

1. if the ice is thin and you can't get off it, LAY DOWN

your weight spread out over a larger area is less likely to break the ice than concentrated into two small spaces the size of your feet.

i can't believe nobody realized this.

[Brother Buzz]

2. Most native Californians have no clue how to properly deal with snow and ice.

[CreekDog]

9. there's some truth to that, though I'm a native and know this

helps to have gone to college in a very snowy place though.

[kestrel91316]

15. None whatsoever. They can't even handle a simple rain.

[REP]

31. Even though it rains EVERY FUCKING WINTER

Still blows my mind. And it's not as though we get real rain here, either!

[Lasher]

4. That's my reaction

Most of them had no clue about how to effect a rescue in this situation. Some threw flotation devices and one threw a rope. That was good. But lots of them just walked up to the edge of the ice. And at least one child was permitted to join them in this folly.

It didn't seem that any of them tried to make their way to the shore, which appeared to be nearby and unobstructed by ice.

[Logical]

8. Maybe you can find each one and personally make fun of them! n-t

[panader0]

19. I live in Arizona. It's called "the stupid motorist law"

Every year people drive into the flooded washes and get swept down stream. Now you have to pay for all rescue expenses if you drive around a barrier. Years ago a guy I knew had his truck washed away. I went with him the next day and only the roof of the truck's cab was visible above the sand.

[Logical]

20. I have often found.....

that people who love making fun of people who make mistakes are actually insecure because they have made many themselves and want to feel smarter than them. Maybe in this case it is not true.

[kwassa]

22. I think you have a despicable attitude.

I lived in Michigan where ice fishing and other winter activities are commonplace.

Fine, but Californians do not. I've grew up in Michigan, and live in Los Angeles for 17 years. Wrightwood is a ski resort close to Los Angeles, and not much of resort at that because it doesn't get that cold that far south.

To criticize others for not having experience in something that they couldn't have experience in is not ignorance on their part, but ignorance, yes, on your part.

[Liberal_in_LA]

24. weird how dusty, hot Palmdale can be near snow and frozen lakes

[A HERETIC I AM]

25. Palmdale and the Antelope valley is 2600 feet up in the air.

I was living there when I first found DU.

In 20 minutes we could be up in the mountains and about an hour to get us to Wrightwood. I have to say, though I didn't really like living in California, the scenery in the high desert was gorgeous. Often the clouds that were covering Castaic and Santa Clarita would come up the 14 freeway and spill over the mountains, dissipating as they flowed toward Palmdale, creating this lovely picture that I could see on a regular basis.

It could be 75 degrees in town but the San Gabriel range would be snow capped.

It was often very pretty.

[kwassa]

34. No, you are not right.

Those people who came to the lake may have had no idea that the lake had just frozen over the night before, which is actually quite unlikely, as people would fall in at the shoreline, not out in the middle of the lake. The ice wouldn't be thick enough for them to get any further in a single night of freezing.

and I still think your attitude is despicable, for other reasons, as well. Human beings make mistakes of judgement; this does not mean that they are required to die as a result. I find a stunning lack of empathy on your part.

[kwassa]

40. OK .....

I need not pay attention to you ever again. You are one of the people you mock.

[kentauros]

41. ~!~

Last edited Fri Jan 4, 2013, 12:28 AM - Edit history (1)

edited for inappropriate wording and graphic

[kentauros]

43. All right, I apologize.

And I'll edit my post to kwassa.

I still don't agree with your point of view, and will remember not to challenge you on it again.

[Sheldon Cooper]

29. Wow. It's an honor to meet someone who is perfect in every way, and has never made

a single mistake, ever. Kudos, sir! :slowclap:

[Wind Dancer]

30. Oh FFS!

Your comment says more about you than those you ridicule.

[cherokeeprogressive]

45. You're just horrible and mean. And mean and horrible.

And horrible, and well, mean.

Weren't those people IDIOTS though? Yessiree...

Take one step on to the lake ice here in Big Bear and it's a $500 fine. Flatlanders pay it regularly.

[cherokeeprogressive]

50. Other side of the Pass is correct.

Just take the road east from Wrightwood across the 15 and past Silverwood Lake.

That no one laid down is the first thing I noticed, and the fact they walked right up to the edge of the ice.

We had great holidays, thanks. Things are good here, cold with about a foot of snow in the shady areas.

Be well, my horrible mean friend. You be safe as well.

[CreekDog]

69. I wish they'd laid down too, but jeez, you make it sound like a character flaw

when in fact, it's bravery. selfless bravery.

you know, up here on the coast, the undertow is deadly and the key is when you get caught in it, to swim parallel to the shore until you get on the right side of the rip current.

many people don't know that, and drown.

it doesn't make them stupid, it just means they don't know that one very crucial thing, that most people don't know.

[kentauros]

32. Yes, you are sorry.

I could say more, but your own words speak volumes.

[flvegan]

57. How long would you have waited?

Hi, you know me.

You see someone drowning in a lake of ice. You look to your left and your right, no rope and no ladder. No branch, no lumber. Staring down the barrel of that gun, pointed at that person.

Maybe we should be all filling out Health and Safety forms rather than actually living up to what we are. So long as someone is there to call folks that answer a call "FUCKING MORONS"

You disappoint me with this.

[flvegan]

63. So...who died?

[Whisp]

73. That is really mean of you.

I am supposing you have your last hurrah to this world all planned out and proper - no accidents for you! You will outsmart the grim reaper cuz you, you are so smart....

[Whisp]

76. You took quite the pummeling here

I'm almost sorry for you.

But not quite.

[Tempest]

5. That's what happens when people don't know what they're doing

First rule of rescuing someone from water or ice: Don't get too close to the edge. In the case of ice, learn to read the patterns of cracking and you know where the ice is the strongest.

I fell through the ice once with my girlfriend. The first thing I did was tell my brother and his friend to stay away and find something long to reach us with. Luckily, the ice thickened a few feet away and we were able to reach it. The 1.5 mile run back to town in 35 degrees below zero temperature happened so fast I don't remember it.

[loli phabay]

6. brrrrr was there last week when i accidently walked on a frozen swimming pool

Luckily it was into the shallow end. Thought is was a wind blown patio cleared of snow and was to busy looking at the house.

[Brother Buzz]

12. Frozen swimming pool fail

[SidDithers]

13. Dude's lucky he didn't go halfway though...

He would have eviscerated himself.

Sid

[loli phabay]

14. lol mines was an epic fail too especially as the homeowners dog ambled around and was looking at me

Must have thought i was mad.

[SidDithers]

7. Scary. How close is that to San Diego?...nt

Sid

[CreekDog]

10. about an hour north of LA

[Brother Buzz]

11. Maybe a hundred-fifty miles by road

It happen north east of LA basin

[Peace Patriot]

18. Hats off to the brave man in the red jacket who went close in and threw the first rope...

...yelling in Spanish, and to the others who risked their own lives to save those who had fallen in!

A lot of Spanish being shouted. The thought occurred to me that these might be people from south of the border (not a whole lot of frozen lakes in Mexico, I imagine), or, in any case, were people whose experience with frozen lakes was non-existent or very limited. They didn't know the '"lie down on the ice" rule that people in very cold climates learn (as with people raised in coastal areas who learn "never turn your back on the ocean&quot . But whoever they were, and whatever mistakes they made, many of them showed bravery and daring and quick thinking, throwing in ropes and floaters.

I'm rather appalled at the above posters who call these imperiled people "idiots" and state that they have no sympathy with people who are ignorant of something or make mistakes. Jeez. What hard hearts they must have! I hope that if they ever make a mistake, out of ignorance or carelessness, someone is there to rescue them. We all have things we don't know. We all make mistakes. We are all sometimes thoughtless or careless. To the hard-hearted I say: Show a little compassion and create some good karma for yourself.

I'm just so GLAD that the rescuers acted so quickly and that apparently all got out of this dire situation alive and with no serious injury!

Pass it forward!

[LWolf]

21. I've been there...

riding innertubes on the snow. I used to live within a reasonable driving distance. I remember cautioning my teenage sons to stay away from the path that would have taken them onto the ice.

[hedgehog]

26. I saw this footage before and was wondering if my kids

raised in Upstate New York would know what to do - none of them were involved in scouting.

[NickB79]

27. As a native of Minnesota

Land of 10,000 Lakes (some of which actually fully thaw by late August!), that is one cringe-worthy video.

[Ganja Ninja]

28. I broke through the ice one time when I lived in Michigan.

I was all the way over on a deserted part of the lake near a swampy part. I was at least 1/4 mile from the nearest house. Luckily the water was only a little over waist deep. My feet stuck in the mud but I was able to pull myself back onto the ice and walk home. Oddly it wasn't as cold as you might think. My pants froze and blocked the wind and the water in my boots started to warm up after I started walking.

[Xolodno]

33. Jackson Lake?

More like Jackson mud hole or pond. Live not too far from there and driven by it many times....I could never wrap my head around it as being a "lake".

But then, as someone who loves visiting the national parks and seen many lakes...I may be a bit biased.

[Zookeeper]

54. That was my reaction to most of the "lakes" in CA.

However, I always did my best to look impressed.

[XemaSab]

64. You clearly haven't been out much

We've got a lot of lakes.

[Zookeeper]

65. Compared to Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota?

Not so much and mostly pretty small. I lived in CA for a decade, BTW. Have you spent time in the Great Lakes states?

[CreekDog]

70. i didn't know Tahoe, Eagle Lake, Clear Lake were small

or Mono Lake, Honey Lake or Owens Lake...

[kwassa]

78. There are no natural lakes in Los Angeles, despite the Los Angeles Lakers ...

only a couple man-made reservoirs like Lake Hollywood, which I used to run around on weekends. The Lakers were imported from Minnesota, Land of 1000 ...

Most of the lakes in California are actually reservoirs, created by dams.

[CreekDog]

80. The point I was making is that there are large, natural lakes in California

And the lack of them within LA city limits doesn't contradict what I said.

[kwassa]

81. True. Here is one of my favorites.

June Lake

[CreekDog]

83. I love June Lake and just about 15 minutes away from one of my favorites:

and pretty close to a very different:

Mono Lake

[kwassa]

84. I've driven by Mono ...

it is so otherworldly.

[Zookeeper]

86. I didn't say that all CA lakes are small, just most. n/t

[Brother Buzz]

77. Yes, we have many, many lakes, but a ton of them would be labled 'ponds' in the east

Heck, I can think of five of lakes I spent quality time at that would fit into Walden pond with room left over for swimming.

[knitter4democracy]

79. In Michigan, they'd be called ponds.

I've got family out there, and when we visit, they love to show us the "lakes." We always look suitably impressed and then laugh when we get back home.

[kwassa]

82. Aside from the Great Lakes, other Michigan lakes are not that large.

and they are not surrounded by beautiful mountains like California lakes are.

two photos of Lake Tahoe.

[knitter4democracy]

85. No, our mountains got compressed and stripped by glaciers.

We have lovely hills in the UP and a lake up there called Lake of the Clouds.


If you look at a satellite image, you'll see many inland lakes that are good-sized. Anywhere in our state, we're just a few miles from a body of water, and almost all of them are gorgeous in their own way.

[kwassa]

88. yeah, I am from the northwest suburbs of Detroit

and there are small lakes everywhere up there. I used to sail on Orchard Lake quite a bit.

[Zookeeper]

87. I've seen Lake Tahoe and, yes, it's surrounded by beautiful mountains,

but I wasn't that impressed by the size. The fact that it's so crowded and overdeveloped made it seem smaller, too.

I never spent much time on Michigan's inland lakes, but Minnesota has many very large lakes. (And a few very small ''mountains.&quot

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/list_of_lakes_in_Minnesota

Three of the four lakes in my neighborhood aren't even listed.

[Kaleva]

44. There's no such thing as safe ice.

[MzShellG]

46. I would be freaking out.....

But then I wouldn't be out there since I can't swim. Plus I can't stand cold weather, not to mention freezing water. Why take the risk?

[JVS]

49. I'm glad everyone was ok. Otherwise I'd feel guilty listening to yackity sax while watching it.

[former-republican]

51. All you need is some Benny Hill music

[flvegan]

53. Wait...hold on, we're faulting rescuers now?

I'm reading it, but I can't believe it. May your stupid ass never need a firefighter.

If I need to explain that, just give up. You're too stupid to get it.

[flvegan]

58. As much as I don't like it, yes, it seems so.

[Mariana]

71. To be a rescuer, you have to actually rescue someone.

If you fall in and have to be pulled out yourself, you're not a rescuer, no matter how good your intentions were.

[Zookeeper]

59. WTH?!? It sounds like there are hundreds of people on that dinky lake.

I'm surprised they didn't all sink.

Lovers of nature, solitude and quiet have to look pretty hard for it in CA, in my experience. In this case, though, it was handy to have someone around to call 911.

[Earth_First]

60. I know it's hard to look at a situation in retrospect and pass judgement; however how did NO ONE...

have a pair of ice awls in this situation?



For me personally, before venturing out onto ANY natural body of water known to be more than waist deep; I am carrying a pair of these with me.

Period.

So hard to believe that nobody had these available...

[Jamastiene]

66. Where can you buy those?

I have never seen them before. I would like to get some. Where can you buy them?

[Earth_First]

68. Most sporting goods stores with a selection of ice fishing gear will have them. n/t

[Liberal_in_LA]

72. what the hell are those things?

[ManiacJoe]

75. Small picks used to pull yourself out of the water.

[Arctic Dave]

62. The lemming effect.

Easy to talk about but takes training to break the instinct to jump in and try to rescue someone.

First responders have died from this same phenomena.

[Egalitarian Thug]

67. GangDarwin style! n/t