UPDATE:
Emergency crews have called off their search after receiving a report of someone possibly having gone through the ice on Lake Simcoe near Shannon Bay.
“They did a really thorough search of the area,” Orillia OPP Const. Ted Dongelmans said, adding the caller pointed them to a specific area and “there was no fresh sign of recent breaks in the ice there.”
He said a bystander reported seeing a coyote on the ice earlier, and there was a previous report of a bald eagle on the ice, too, that might have led the caller to believe someone was in need of rescue.
The standard message from police is that no ice is safe ice, and Dongelmans emphasized that precaution given the relatively mild temperatures in the area recently, calling conditions “very dangerous.”
“The ice at the shore where the (caller) was was broken up and there was open water at the shore,” he said.
In fact, rescue crews had to go into the water first before climbing onto the ice.
The search involved an OPP helicopter as well as members of the Orillia, Oro-Medonte, Rama and Ramara fire departments.
ORIGINAL STORY:
Local emergency services personnel are currently scouring the waters of Lake Simcoe near Shannon Bay amid reports a person may have gone through the ice this morning.
Search for a person possibly through the ice on Lake Simcoe near Shannon Bay. #OPP helicopter is up, #Ramara and #TwpOroMedonte Fire have airboats out and @OrilliaFire and @RamaFireRescue have rescue personnel on the ice. #NoIceIsSafeIce ^td pic.twitter.com/BKe0ie2FuP
— OPP Central Region (@OPP_CR) January 14, 2021
Airboats from Ramara and Oro-Medonte Township have been deployed, while firefighters from Orillia and Rama First Nation are also on the scene.
The OPP helicopter is also in the area in an effort to aid the search.
The OPP remind people that no ice is safe ice. Officials say ice in the Orillia OPP detachment area is not safe.
