N.B. fire chief reminds residents to be cautious on ice after two die near Saint John

Musquash and Saint John teams recovered two bodies from a New Brunswick river on Tuesday.

When a resident noticed a pair of friends had not returned home Tuesday morning after going for a walk Monday evening around the East Branch Reservoir just west of Saint John, N.B., he knew something was wrong.

After searching their regular walking path, he came across a pair of bodies, a man and a woman, in the water at the end of Menzie Lake Road.

He immediately called 911 for an ice rescue.

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“We got a call about 10:20 (Tuesday) morning of a couple of people in the water up on the East Branch Reservoir,” says Musquash Fire Chief Wayne Pollock. “We responded with our ice rescue and water rescue equipment.”

With the help of the Saint John Fire Department, the bodies were successfully recovered from the ice about four hours later.

The pair was located close to the shoreline, which allowed rescue teams to remain on land for much of the operation.

“They ended up being able to bring them across the ice using this banana boat for protection for the firefighters that brought them across,” says Pollock.

While crews are well trained for ice rescues, Pollock says they are rare. He says supports are being offered to responding crews in wake of the body recovery.

He reminds residents to be extra careful on the ice this time of year, noting in the Greater Saint John area the temperatures have not been cold enough to build as much ice as there has been in years past.

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