Fair / 61° F
Warm spell weakens ice; 2 cars fall into Big Pine
Published 11:04am Monday, February 6, 2012The Otter Tail County Sheriff’s Office warned residents to be careful about using vehicles on lakes during the current spell relatively warm weather after two vehicles went through Little Pine Lake north of Perham over the weekend.
In the first incident, a Perham man had to walk a half-mile home with no shoes after his pick-up truck sank in open water late Friday night. Craig Swanson was driving off the lake to a private access, but a foggy night caused him to accidentally go into a patch of open water, the county sheriff’s office reported. The truck sank in 10 feet of water, but Swanson was able to swim to safety, losing his shoes in the process.
He then walked to his home on the lake’s north shore.
Though he suffered from a mild case of hypothermia, Swanson decided not to receive further medical treatment.
A Detroit Lakes man was similarly uninjured when his car fell through the ice on Saturday morning. Brian Swanson (the sheriff’s office does not know if he is related to Craig Swanson) escaped out his car through a window and retreated to his ice house, where law enforcement responded and made sure he was all right.
