PORT COLBORNE, ONTARIO (WKBW) -- After spending hours enjoying a beautiful late-winter day ice fishing on Lake Erie, about 40 ice fishing enthusiasts found themselves trapped on the frozen surface.
A crack, measuring between 30 and 40 feet opened up while Keith Culp and the others were walking back to shore from 2.5 miles out.
"We had to walk around the crack about four miles," Culp told Eyewitness News after making it back to dry land.
One fisherman could not make it back, so Canadian authorities called in the Erie County Sheriff's Air One helicopter to assist.
The ice has been melting steadily for the past few weeks. Satellite pictures provided by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration show it is quickly dissipating.
"Today was just a tragedy waiting to happen," said Air One pilot Capt. Kevin Caffery. "We're lucky we didn't have someone get killed down here."
Everyone made it off the ice safely, said Chief Tom Cartwright of Port Colborne Fire Department.
"I should know better," Culp said.
"I always joke and say I'm going to give up fishing and take up bowling," he said with a smile.
Then, as the smile faded, "But that was really scary. Big time."
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