High Desert’s icy beauty has its dangers

With winter’s firm grip on Central Oregon, many of the area’s lakes, rivers and ponds have frozen over, prompting a warning from area firefighters.

“There is ice everywhere — especially on the river it can be really, really iffy,” Bend Fire Capt. Chuck Goss said. “I wouldn’t venture out any pond that isn’t already established as a skating pond.”

Thursday afternoon, rescuers were called to help save a dog that broke through the ice north of the First Street rapids on the Deschutes River in Bend.

By the time firefighters got to the animal, it was already out of the frigid water.

It comes as a reminder to be safe around ice.

“The ice may look thick,” Goss said, “but it may not be consistently across the pond.”

He offers these tips if you ever find yourself in a situation where someone has fallen through the ice.

First, Call 911 and get help on the way. Second, try and calm the person down and have them stay close to the edge of the hole they’ve fallen through.

And never go out on the ice to try and rescue the person or animal.

“They end up becoming a victim, and then the next person, so we might end up with multiple victims on something like that,” Goss said.

The final tip: Find something you can either, slide, throw or row across the ice. That will give the person something to hang onto until help arrives.