COLONIAL HEIGHTS, Va. — The city of Colonial Heights issued a potentially life-saving warning this week as subfreezing temperatures lingered for days.
Stay off the ice!
For nearly 20 years, Colonial Heights Public Works Superintendent Mike West has looked out over Lakeview Lake from his office window.
This week, for the first time that he could remember, he saw footprints on a layer of lake ice.
Then Wednesday morning, he saw two people walking on the ice.
"I saw a couple in front of the boat dock," he said. "I told them to get off the ice; it was dangerous and that the ice wasn’t that thick."
Watch: Ice covers Lakeview Lake in Colonial Heights
Tim Kepple, who has lived near the lake for over 20 years, echoed the dangers.
He called the situation “crazy” and emphasized the uncertainty surrounding ice thickness.
Earlier this week, Kepple said he saw bicycle tracks on the ice.
“This is the first time I think I’ve seen it frozen,” he said.
In response to the increased activity on the ice, the city of Colonial Heights took action on Thursday morning, placing yellow caution tape around Lakeview Lake to deter people from venturing out.
"The last thing we want to do is respond out here and have to pull somebody out of this," Colonial Heights Fire & EMS Lt. Geoff Turner said.
Fire and EMS officials are utilizing social media to spread awareness about the dangers of falling through the ice.
Turner warned that individuals who fall into freezing water have only about a minute of motor function before losing their ability to move, a situation that can escalate quickly.
First responders also reminded parents to inform their children about the risks of walking on ice.
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