Two people fell through the ice on Mendenhall Lake near the face of the glacier on Monday afternoon, but managed to escape without life-threatening harm, according to Capital City Fire/Rescue.
“CCFR wants to remind the community this is a bad time to be out on this terrible ice,” the fire department wrote in a post on its Facebook page at about 4 p.m. when it initially reported it was responding to the incident. The post stated CCFR received a report of two people falling through the ice, with one still in the water.
A subsequent message just after 4:30 p.m. stated “everyone is currently out of the water. Everyone is working their way to shore.”
Temperatures this month have mostly ranged between the upper 30s and low 40s at the National Weather Service Juneau station about a mile from Mendenhall Lake, said Brian Bezenek, a meteorologist at the station. He said overnight lows at the station have dropped below freezing dating back to March 11, reaching a low of 13 degrees on March 16.
Multiple reports of other people falling through the ice at the lake have occurred since December, although no critical injuries or fatalities resulted. However, Haines author Tom McGuire, 79, fell through ice and disappeared before he could be rescued at Chilkoot Lake on Feb. 6.
