Over 60 Wisconsin fishermen rescued after being stranded on floating ice over 1,000 feet offshore
Ice rescue could easily have gone awry, officials said
DOOR COUNTY, Wis. -- Dozens of fishermen became trapped on an ice floe on the Bay of Green Bay, near Sturgeon Bay, in Wisconsin Thursday, and needed to be rescued.
Rescue crews spent much of the morning recovering 62 people that were trapped on an ice floe. Officials told WBAY the situation could've been a lot worse.
Those on the ice noticed a break at around 9 a.m., but by then it was too late.
The floating ice had broken off, traveling more than 1,000 feet away from ice attached to land, trapping the fishermen.
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The mild winter until this week likely played a big part in this.
One man assisting in the rescue effort said in his 30-plus years fishing on Sturgeon Bay, he's never seen such an incident.
"In my years of being on this ice, I've seen it open north, south, but I've not seen it where you got a split going to the west in that north-south region, and there must be a super strong current today. I've never seen that," said Dale Stroschein, who assisted in the effort.
