Faribault Man Escapes Tragedy on Ice

The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources and Rice County Sheriff Troy Dunn have reminded us repeatedly the last couple months there is no such thing as, "safe ice."

Even with the frigid temperatures experienced lately authorities in LeSueur County say a car broke through ice on Lake Washington early this morning.

Deputies say the front portion of the vehicle became submerged underwater after it crossed an ice heave at Squirrels Nest Point just before 6:30 a.m..

The ice heave appears to have run east across Bakers Bay toward the Connors Point area.

Both occupants of the vehicle, Daniel Pierce, 23 of Faribault and Jacob Swanson, 22 of Mankato were able to escape without injury.

Rice County Sheriff Troy Dunn tells us the ice heaves probably occurred because of the tremendous temperature change experienced Thursday.

I did some checking and Thursday morning when Jerry Groskreutz arrived at KDHL it was 35 degrees.  By night it was -2.

Sheriff Dunn did say you can see these ice heaves during the day so one recommendation would be to wait until daylight to venture onto a lake.

Slowing down and following other tracks won't guarantee your vehicle won't break through but are a couple of other tips the Rice County sheriff gave us.

He also says many vehicle insurance policies don't cover a vehicle going through the ice so it's something to check into if you frequent the lakes.

Fishing a vehicle out of the lake can also be a big hit on your pocketbook.