Wrightwood firefighters get new tool for ice water rescues
Every year, firefighters here brace themselves for the inevitable tragedy at Jackson Lake.
At least one person drowns every winter after the thin layer of ice covering the lake breaches and they fall through, said Wrightwood Fire Capt. Steve Roeber.
No one seems to pay much attention to the numerous signs reading 'Danger, thin ice" in both English and Spanish surrounding the lake, west of Wrightwood in the Angeles National Forest.
Thanks to a $2,800 donation from the Timberline Lions Club, firefighters now have at their disposal four ice rescue suits that allow them to stay in sub-zero temperature waters for up to six hours, Roeber said.
"We're hoping with these ice rescue suits, it will give us a better chance to save these people," Roeber said.
Wrightwood firefighters will give a demonstration of the new suits at 7:30 p.m. Thursday at the Wrightwood Community Building, 1275 Hwy. 2. The Lions club will also be honored for their contribution.
The suits are much needed.
Roeber recalls an incident two years ago when his firefighters were dispatched to the lake on a report that 300 people were playing on the ice.
"We get down there, and there's literally about 300 people walking around on this ice. There's families out there with kids, with babies in their arms, moving around on the ice," Roeber said. "And as they moved on the ice, it moved like waves on the water.
Roeber said he and his team were left with no choice but to get on a public address system and order the people off the ice as quickly and as calmly as possible. Luckily, no one was injured in that incident.
But there have been numerous others where people weren't so lucky.
"Every year it happens, and it's so tragic," said Marion Mackenzie, a longtime member of the Timberline Lions Club in Wrightwood. "Firemen, their hands are tied when they can't get to these people."
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