Officials warn people to stay off frozen rivers

Hypothermia can take place within minutes of falling through ice.

By KELLEN STEPLER
TribLive

First responders have a simple message after seeing reports and videos of people walking on frozen Pittsburgh rivers: Don’t do it.

“Don’t put yourself at risk to get injured — because our first responders have to put their lives on the line to help you,” said Pittsburgh EMS Chief Amera Gilchrist. “It’s not fair to them to have to put themselves in danger just because you think it’s a fun activity.

“Leave the recreational activities where they belong.”

Gilchrist said officials fielded several reports over the weekend of people walking on the ice over frozen Allegheny, Monongahela and Ohio rivers.

“Reportedly, there was some social media involvement where they were posting things on social media, and actually parents out with small children, which was very concerning,” she said.

Just before 2:30 p.m. Monday, Oakmont police responded to a man walking on the ice near the Oakmont Yacht Club. They were able to speak with him and get him off the ice. He was spotted by a motorist on Route 28.

Officials did not have an exact number of how many reports were received of people walking on ice.

While dangerous, it is not illegal to walk on river ice, according to Pittsburgh Public Safety.

It takes about 4 to 5 inches of solid ice to hold an adult person, Gilchrist said.

But she said there is no way to tell how thick the ice might be in any location.

“Just because it’s cold outside doesn’t mean all of the ice is frozen,” she said. “It’s a moving body of water, so there are places where the ice may be broken and it’s still actively moving, which causes it to break further downstream.

“There is no definitive way to tell how solid your footing is going to be, how solid that foundation is.”

Jeff Stephens, chief of the Blawnox Swiftwater Team, said it’s “extremely dangerous” to walk on river ice.

“We never know what the thickness is because water is always running underneath it,” he said.

If someone falls through the ice, the water is so cold that it could take less than 10 minutes to become hypothermic enough “that the effects are irreversible,” Gilchrist said.

Within seconds, people who fall through hyperventilate, flail and gasp for air, which makes matters worse, Gilchrist said.

“If you go under the ice, you might not come up,” Stephens said. “The water can take you downstream, and you can’t have any place to get out. Once you go through the ice, anything can happen.”

Effects can be fatal. More than 40 years ago, two boys were believed to have fallen through frozen river ice on the Allegheny River in Tarentum and have never been found.

Even crews who have protective gear and suits risk hypothermia when they go in for a rescue over the ice, Gilchrist said.

Stephens said his team avoids getting on the ice at any costs. He said they have responded only once in the past few days, to assist Pittsburgh police Wednesday when a man wanted for trespassing fled from officers and walked on the ice-covered Allegheny River from Highland Park to Harmar. Most calls have been in Pittsburgh, he said.

EMS divers go through years of training. Gilchrist said it takes six months for divers to be trained enough to make a rescue in water at normal temperatures.

“It takes years to become a very efficient diver and to be able to dive in the conditions that we currently are facing right now in the river,” she said. “It’s definitely not safe for emergency responders to have to put their lives in danger because someone thinks that they’re able to walk on the ice.”

“Just because it’s cold outside doesn’t mean all of the ice is frozen. It’s a moving body of water, so there are places where the ice may be broken and it’s still actively moving, which causes it to break further downstream.”

AMERA GILCHRIST

PITTSBURGH EMS CHIEF