'No ice is safe ice:' Wisconsin DNR shares winter safety tips after driver falls through frozen waters in Green Lake County

 

GREEN LAKE COUNTY, Wis. (CBS 58) -- As the temperatures go down, the warnings for winter weather safety are going up.

Over the weekend, Andrew Duernberger captured someone driving on the frozen waters of Puckaway Lake before the vehicle broke through the top icy layer. 

Since then, it's received millions of views since being posted onto social media. 

Thankfully, the driver is okay -- but the video serves as a warning from the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources.

“We don’t ever want to say that there’s any ice that’s ever 100% safe," said Lieutenant Jake Holsclaw. “We just want people to check that ice before you’re gonna step on it.”

Lt. Holsclaw said a good rule of thumb is that no ice is safe ice, especially when you might not truly know how thick a layer is.

“Last year, we did have, I believe, two different ATV or UTVs sink through the ice," Lt. Holsclaw said, adding that both of those drivers had passed away because of the incidents. “Obviously there’s more of them that actually go through, and thankfully, people are safe, so there’s a number of them every year."

If you do have to go out on the ice, officials recommend notifying someone of where you are and when you should be expected to return, carrying a cellphone, and having other kinds of safety equipment like a lifejacket or ice spikes.

"They have a little tether on them here, you can wear them on your neck, keep them in your coat pocket, things like that. So that if you for some reason break through the ice, you can use those to help yourself get out," Lt. Holsclaw said. “Just really think twice before driving out there with a vehicle, for sure.”

And if you do fall through? The most important thing to remember is try not to panic and maneuver yourself toward where you fell through to then try and pull yourself up onto the flat ice.