DETROIT, Jan. 14 (UPI) -- Rescuers saved 15 ice fishermen on Michigan's Lake St. Clair after warm temperatures and thin ice sent a snowmobile to the bottom.
The U.S. Coast Guard, a hovercraft, and fire and rescue units from five southeastern Michigan departments conducted operations most of Tuesday, retrieving anglers adrift on wind-driven floes in frigid open water. They also pulled several shelters to shore.
No injuries were reported.
"Our job is to rescue people and save lives," St. Clair Sheriff's Department Lt. William Krul told the Detroit Free Press. "But at some point, there needs to be some forethought on the part of the people on the ice to make a decision that maybe it's not good to go."
A snowmobile sank when the driver tried to cross a gap in cracking eight-inch thick ice. A car fell though dangerous ice in the late afternoon.
Anglers, who won't be billed for the rescues, are hoping for a quick return to an Arctic deep freeze like the cold snap gripping the East Coast and New England.
