Fishermen rescued from St. Croix River after truck goes through thin ice
By Esme Murphy
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BAYPORT, Minnesota (WCCO) — Two anglers in search of sturgeon on the St. Croix River in Bayport were rescued on Monday night after going through the ice in a truck.
Ben Ziertman was out fishing in his cozy fish house on Monday evening when disaster struck.
“It didn’t take much for them to go,” Ziertman said. “They are very lucky.”
Ziertman helped the two young men get out of the truck. Both men are OK.
The site is just a few hundred feet from Xcel Energy’s King Plant. When the plant is on, the water is warm, and even under frigid conditions, a large area stays open.
But when the plant shuts down, as anglers told us it did last weekend, a layer of ice forms, but it’s very thin.
WCCO spoke with three fishermen who all said Xcel has posted warning signs around the area for years to warn of thin ice.
Ziertman says at night, when sturgeon are the most active, it’s impossible to tell how thick the ice is, and everyone should remember this frigid rule.
“Ice is never safe. We tell people that all the time, ice is never safe,” Ziertman said.
Xcel Energy agrees, and a spokesperson told WCCO local authorities are responsible for signage on local waterways, such as the St. Croix.
The chief of the Oak Park Heights Police Department says they are not responsible because the area is in Bayport.
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