The Coast Guard Cutter Mackinaw – also known in Chicago as the Christmas Tree Ship – took part in the dramatic rescue of a snowmobiler off Mackinac Island on Sunday afternoon.
Video shared by the crew of the Mackinaw on social media shows the ship approaching drifting ice.
The 55-year-old snowmobiler was stranded in blizzard conditions.
The man had a phone and GPS.
A fire rescue crew from the island tried to reach the man on foot before the ice started breaking up.
It would have ben impossible for them to reach him because of the open water.
The Fire Chief, Jason St. Onge, said they were pushing through deep snow drifts and jagged ice formations before turning back.
It took them about 40 minutes to go 2,000 feet.
Rescue by air was not possible, because of the weather conditions.
The Mackinaw was nearby.
And the crew got the man and the machine off the ice.
It was breaking up during the rescue.
The fire chief said the man was warned not to go out there.
He said he put his life and the lives of the fire crew at risk.
He was slightly hypothermic when he was brought onboard the ship.
Here’s a press release put out by St. Onge on Sunday.
At 4:40pm today Chief St. Onge was notified a man was lost on the ice. Chief immediately struck an alarm for Fire and EMS and had the United State Coast Guard notified.
A ping was received from the man (who was previously advised by Deputy Chief Rickley to NOT go out there) who was roughly a mile off the west shore.
Conditions were worse than a whiteout (if that's possible). The man was told (thru a translator over the phone)to stay put and that rescue was coming to him.
MIFD Members Bartholomew Theron Berkshire Colton Fisher Adrian Skazalski Chuck Pereny Corey Kaminen and Chief St. Onge donned rescue gear and started out onto the ice. It was extremely slow going as drifting snow was waist deep and the ice jagged and difficult to climb over. Extreme coordination between shore based firefighters, Central Dispatch and County Emergency Manager Bryce Tracy were able to track firefighters as they disappeared into the white out.
The victim was advised if he could follow his GPS to start making his way toward the advancing firefighters. Unfortunately soon after the man advised he was moving, he had run into open water and could not go any further. The United States Coast Guard was advised and at first said they could not reach the man nor would they put Guardsmen on the ice. Almost instantly a call came back from USCG Cutter Mackinaw saying they could see the man and were going to attempt to get him.
Firefighters began the long arduous walk back towards shore and were notified that the USCG had rescued the man off the ice. It took MIFD members almost 40 minutes to walk 2,000 feet due to conditions.
It should be noted that earlier in the day another individual from off the Island asked if the ice was ok and was advised by the MIFD Chief that he would surely be lost if he attempted to cross in the current conditions.
The ice is no joke, not an inland lake or a mill pond, conditions can and do change by the minute. Not one entity endorses the ice nor is anyone in charge of its safety or security. Each and every trip is CROSS AT YOUR OWN RISK. In this particular case it was cross at the First Responders risk.
As always this shall serve as the MIFDs official press release. I will not be taking calls from any news or media outlets.
DO US ALL A FAVOR AND STAY OFF THE ICE
Jason St. Onge
Chief of Department
MIFD