Wardens urge caution on Maine’s frozen waterways

    Despite temperatures returning to normal, the Maine Warden Service is reminding those recreating on the state’s ice-covered lakes and rivers to always use extreme caution and good judgment. Over the weekend game wardens responded to eight different incidents in which people and/or vehicles fell through the ice — there were no fatalities in any of the calls.

    A pair of broken ice incidents took place on Saturday, Feb. 2, with the first on Moosehead Lake near Big Moose Twp. According to the agency’s reports, at approximately 8:45 a.m. wardens responded to a call of an ATV that had broken through the ice. The vehicle carrying two passengers near Dry Point on the lake became submerged in water created by a pressure ridge.

    James Doucette, 45, of Bangor, and Jay Munson, 44, of Orrington, made it out of the water and were aided by nearby fishermen. The ATV remains in the water as of the morning of Feb. 5.

    Later in the day on Feb. 2 wardens responded to a call of a pair of ATVs through the ice at around 2:30 p.m. on Schoodic Lake in Lake View. One ATV was being operated by an adult male. The other was operated by an adult male with a 3-year-old passenger — no names were available. The man was able to jump to safe ice and did not enter the water as was later determined. The other man did enter the water but got out. The Warden Service reported no injuries, but the two ATVs remain in the water.