At almost 9:00 am Thursday the Southern Door Fire Department was paged for an ice rescue which ended up becoming multiple rescues at 3 different locations along the bayside of the Door peninsula. Southern Door Assistant Fire Chief Randy Massart stated that their department was first on the scene at Sand Bay in the Town of Nasewaupee. Other agencies responding included the New Franken Fire Department, Luxemburg Fire Department, the Brown County Sheriff’s Department, the BUG Department, the Coast Guard, DNR, And the Sturgeon Bay Department. The Brown County Sheriff’s Department, the DNR, and the Coast Guard all had air-boats in operation rescuing ice fishermen from the Sand Bay area, just off of Sherwood Point, and also near Little Harbor. Massart says the air-boats conducted most of the rescues, while the helicopters only rescued those in distress and then scanned the shoreline for any others in need of help. Apparently, some of the fishermen far beyond the expanding crack in the ice were not even aware there was any trouble until they saw the helicopters. From his perspective at Sand Bay, Assistant Fire Chief Massart also said the ice crack was about 750 feet wide and growing. By 1:15 pm it was reported that 12 people were rescued near Sand Bay, and about 45 from the Sherwood Point area, with a total of 66 people rescued from all locations. Assistant Fire Chief Massart also wanted to thank everyone involved with the response for helping out. He also said ice fishermen should be extra cautious because conditions can change on a second’s notice, especially with the strong changing winds like Thursday.
