City of Charlottetown urges Islanders to stay off the ice

The City of Charlottetown is warning Islanders to stay off ice floes after receiving a call about people who ventured out onto the ice in the Charlottetown Harbour area. 

No ice is currently safe to be on, the city said in a news release. 

"It's very dangerous. The ice floe could give way. The children could end up in the water, which isn't safe at this time of year," said Kent Mitchell, Charlottetown's deputy fire chief.

Hypothermia is a concern, as well as getting trapped underneath the ice, he said. 

"For somebody to respond to that emergency, it's not going to be an instant type of thing. It could be a few minutes. You could be in grave danger by then."

Could put others at risk  

Getting into a dangerous situation on the ice is risky for those doing it, but could also put others in harm's way, Mitchell said. 

"It could put citizens, other witnesses at risk trying to help that person, and it would put first responders at risk helping that person as well," he said. 

In a worst-case scenario, firefighters are trained for ice rescues and have special suits to keep them warm, dry, buoyant and tethered to the land.

But the suits are "very cumbersome to wear" and aren't a perfect solution, Mitchell said. 

The safety of everybody is Mitchell's utmost concern, he said. 

"Please, this is very dangerous to do. Please stop doing it."