Driver saves phone — and his life — after truck falls through ice on Wisconsin lake
.png "A Wisconsin man broke through the ice while driving his truck over frozen Lake Winnebago, the Fond du Lac Sheriff’s Office said.")
A Wisconsin man saved his phone, and then himself, after he broke through the ice while driving over a frozen lake the afternoon of Saturday, Jan. 5, police told news outlets.
The 51-year-old Fond du Lac man was heading west to east on Lake Winnebago, WKOW reported. While trying to navigate around large cracks in the ice, his pickup truck fell through a weak patch and began sinking into the frigid water.
The man quickly tossed his phone onto the ice before climbing out himself, the TV station reported. While he managed to keep his phone dry, the driver was submerged up to his waist in the freezing lake.
He called 911 and started making his way to an ice shanty nearby to escape the wind while he waited for rescue, WFRV reported.
Deputies with the Fond du Lac Sheriff’s Office arrived in the area around 2:30 p.m. and made their way to the man with the help of a citizen with a UTV, according to the outlet. The man suffered no injuries.
His truck, however, sank to the bottom of Lake Winnebago, WFRV reported, and he has 30 days to have it removed.
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“This afternoon a Fond du Lac resident thankfully survived a near-tragedy when his truck broke through the ice on Lake Winnebago,” Sheriff Ryan Waldschmidt said in a Facebook post, warning the public that the ice is unstable this season.
“Don’t let the cold temperatures we’ve had in recent weeks fool you. There are some serious cracks and areas of thin ice on the lake again this winter, so follow the local fishing club pages,” he said.
The sheriff’s office flew a drone over the lake and took photos of where the pickup fell through, and the massive crack right by it.
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“This crack spans far beyond this location, and there are miles of cracks similar to this throughout all of Lake Winnebago, so we don’t want anyone thinking this is the only area of concern,” the sheriff said. “A local fishing club page has advised this is one of the more concerning and lengthier cracks they have seen in several decades.”
This story was originally published February 6, 2022 at 9:08 AM with the headline "Driver saves phone — and his life — after truck falls through ice on Wisconsin lake."