EAGLE LAKE, Maine — Just one month after a Black Hawk helicopter recovered a Maine Warden Service plane that had plunged through the ice on Eagle Lake, a knuckle boom loader was used to pull a tractor from the same icy water.
The tractor fell through the ice about 200 feet out from shore on Eagle Lake on Dec. 29, according to Stacy Belanger, who photographed the tractor recovery on Sunday.
Braydon Paradis, 23, was driving the tractor in an attempt to clear a path in order to bring his ice fishing shack out to the lake when he broke through the ice. Paradis escaped unharmed.
Workers cut through the ice with chainsaws on Sunday, Jan. 21, and John Kelly operated a knuckle boom loader belonging to Northern Timber Trucking to retrieve the tractor, according to Belanger. He said the operation took about five hours, lasting from about 10 a.m. until 3 p.m.
“All in all it was a pretty cool experience to watch but everyone was certainly grateful that no one got hurt. It’s just another reminder about the dangers of being on the ice,” Belanger said.
On Dec. 20, a Cessna 185 that warden pilot Jeff Spencer was operating fell through the ice on Eagle Lake when strong winds forced Spencer to alter his normal landing pattern on the lake.
Spencer was able to exit the aircraft without injury, but the plane became partially submerged and was suspended by its wings and tail.
In early January, two ATVs reportedly fell through the ice on Long Lake. Nobody was injured in either of those accidents, but the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife issued a press release on Jan. 18 urging extreme caution on all Maine waterways.
“Game wardens are urging anyone accessing Maine’s lake and ponds to exercise extreme caution,” according to the release. “The recent return to cold temperatures should not relax the need for extreme caution on Maine’s waterways. … Accessing lakes and ponds should be avoided unless operators can be certain of ice conditions.”
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