(Photo courtesy City & Borough of Juneau)
By Greg Knight, News of the North
On Monday, March 24 at about 4 p.m., Capital City Fire-Rescue was dispatched to the Mendenhall Glacier for a report of two people that had fallen through the ice on Mendenhall Lake.
As fire personnel arrived, one adult male was out of the water and the second adult male was still in the water.
Two four-person CCFR teams assembled at the visitor center parking lot and made their way out into the ice. Personnel provided two ambulances at the visitor center with personnel waiting to transport, and Temsco helicopter company launched a helicopter to assist with the rescue if needed.
According to CCFR, an employee of Tlingit and Haida opened the visitor center as a command post during the incident.
During the rescue operation, personnel contacted the two adults, who were suffering hypothermia; one person was estimated to be in the water 10-15 minutes.
Both were transported to BRH for further medical evaluation.
CCFR is asking the public to exercise extreme caution as the temperatures are rising and the thickness of the ice is varied at best, with no true indication as to the thickness or safety of the ice. The incident wrapped up in a little over one hour.
