Woman’s SUV falls through at ice crossing
Warmer temps, higher flows led to unsafe ice
SASKATOON — Joanne Brochu doesn’t remember jumping from the roof of her SUV, but she does remember landing waist-deep in icy water.
With adrenalin coursing through her body, the 49-year-old grabbed hold of the “most beautiful piece of ice in the world” to pull herself up and spread herself flat. Finally, Warman firefighters tied onto each other to haul her into a boat and back to shore.
“All the firemen risked their lives that night, and I’m disappointed at my poor judgment, that I put everyone at risk,” Brochu said.
“It’s a weird feeling — you want them to save you, but you don’t want them going through that ice.”
She was driving home to Colonsay from Warman Friday evening along Highway 784 when she came to the ice road crossing at the Clarkboro Ferry terminal.
Brochu looked for tracks going into the water and didn’t see any barricades — just like every time she’s used the crossing in previous years — before she started across the seemingly frozen South Saskatchewan River.
“I got a ways across and all of a sudden I heard water and my front end went down into the river,” she said.
The current immediately started carrying her Yukon; she remembers thinking she’d never be found.
It came to a stop against some ice, with the water level four inches below her window.
Brochu tried calling 911, but didn’t have service. She tried holding her phone out the window, to no avail. Finally, she stood on the bottom of her window, holding her phone up in the air, and was able to get through. She was just able to explain what had happened to the dispatcher before she lost service again.
Now perched on the roof of her car, she knew help was on its way but couldn’t fathom how anyone would be able to get to her.
She saw a bystander on the Aberdeen side of the crossing, who helped keep her calm.
“I was quite panicked, and I kept telling her, ‘There’s no way they can get to me, it’s all open water.’ ”
Then the emergency vehicles arrived and two fire fighters started coming near — but her car started sinking, so they told her to jump to the ice.
Now, Brochu wants to warn people about the risks of ice crossings.
“Don’t take the chance. It’s not worth it,” she said.
The Water Security Agency said Monday that warmer temperatures and higher flows than normal are creating unexpected and unsafe ice conditions.
“Any person on or near a lake or river should use extreme caution when crossing,” the agency said.
Warman Fire Chief Gord Thompson said this was the first time firefighters have been called to rescue someone from the crossing. The department’s firefighters have ice rescue training, he noted.