State and borough respond to multiple calls of people and pets in distress on area ice

Over the course of the last week, emergency responders have been called to multiple search and rescue operations involving people on the ice in the Susitna Valley.

 On Tuesday, Alaska State Troopers at the Skwentna Iditarod Checkpoint saw an eight-year-old boy fall into open water on the river.  Trooper Knier and Iditarod volunteer Doug Ramsey rushed to the boy as his ten-year-old brother fought the current to keep him from being pulled under by the current. The boy was rescued unharmed.

On Thurday, Troopers responded to a call of stranded snowmachiners on Nancy Lake trying to reach a state rental cabin.  Richard Goodman of Eagle River and his son became stranded on the ice, but were able to walk to safety on their own.  The next evening, another father and his two sons were snowmachining on South Rolly Lake and became stranded.  That family had also managed to walk off the lake on their own, and had built a small warming fire by the time Troopers arrived.

Mat-Su Borough responders have also seen an increased number of calls for distress on the ice, according to a statement released Tuesday.  Photos included in the release show rescue personnel retrieving a dog that appears to have fallen through the ice.

With spring on the way, both borough and state officials ask that anyone recreating on the ice exercise do so with caution.