Toronto police urge residents to stay off frozen bodies of water

After the first major cold snap of the season last week, ponds, rivers and lakes are likely still frozen and appear to look stable, but Toronto police say ice conditions are often unpredictable and want you to stay off it, entirely.

“During the wintertime, when the water does freeze in our lakes, ponds and rivers and streams, no ice is safe ice,” Constable Vance Douglin told The Leader Spirit.

On Friday, authorities confirmed that an elderly man died after falling through the ice near the Toronto Islands. The victim in his 70s had reportedly been out skating.

Hours later, officials put out a video on social media talking about the dangers the cold waters can pose.

Stephanie Bakalar with the Lifesaving Society said more than a third of all the drownings in Ontario every year happen between October and May.

“Most of these are related to ice and cold water,” Bakalar said. “So, they may be anything from someone walking on the ice and falling through, to snowmobiling accidents and things of that sort of nature.”

Even though there have been some pretty cold days, temperatures need to be sustained over a significant amount of time for ice to be safe enough to stand on.

“The other big thing is that snow actually acts as an insulating blanket,” said Bakalar. “So, when you see a lot of snow on top of the ice, that is not necessarily a good thing. A lot of people think, oh well, there’s snow there, so there’s going to be a nice thick layer of ice beneath that. That is not necessarily true.”

Bakalar added that four inches of solid, clean ice is typically the standard for one person to stand on.

If you should find yourself in a situation where you fall into water, your first instinct will likely be to panic, but police and experts say you need to do your best to calm yourself down.

“Try to get your hands on the ice shelf, once you get your hands on the ice shelf, you kick as hard as you can with your feet to try to propel yourself up onto that ice shelf. [Then] start to roll and roll away from where the crack is until you get to some safety,” Constable Douglin said.

Police say they want people to enjoy the weather, but to do so in a way that doesn’t end up being a rescue mission.