Man fights hypothermia from falling through the ice

MARQUETTE – U.P. ice dangers are rising with the warming weather.

Emergency personnel were called out again this afternoon. An ice fisherman made his way out on Lake Superior near the north ore dock in Marquette.

He fell through the ice shortly before 2:30 p.m. A firefighter went into the water and rescued him about 400 yards offshore. A second firefighter and a Marquette County Sheriff’s Department deputy pulled the fisherman back onto the ice. Coast Guard personnel used a rescue sled to bring him to shore. He was taken to U.P. Health System Marquette with hypothermia.

The warming weather poses a danger on the U.P. lakes and rivers. Firefighters say the best way to stay safe is to not go out onto the ice at all. They say it’s unstable and unreliable.