Person on ice report ‘false alarm’

Emergency crews from both sides of the border spent hours searching around Lake St. Clair Tuesday night after receiving separate reports that a dog, and later a person, were stranded on the ice.

The U.S. Coast Guard said one of its helicopter searched around Belle River for about three hours but didn’t find anyone.

“Canadian coast guard asked us to assist, so we had one of our helicopters there,” said Petty Officer Brian McCrum with the U.S. Coast Guard. “It looked to be a false alarm. There were no reports of missing persons or a person on the ice. So after several hours of searching the area, the all-clear was given.”

Essex County OPP, Essex Windsor EMS and the Lakeshore Fire Department also responded around 5:45 p.m. to a call about a possible person on the ice on Lake St. Clair.

The OPP said it had received a report earlier in the day Tuesday that a dog had been spotted on an ice floe near the foot of Essex County Road 25. Police said that due to unsafe conditions on the lake, they couldn’t find the dog.

Later Tuesday evening, a resident who was surveying the lake with binoculars reported seeing what appeared to be a person standing on the ice.

But the due to the darkness and distance from shore, that could not be confirmed.

McCrum said the helicopter crew searched the area until it got low on fuel.

The OPP said Tuesday night that there had been no reports of missing or overdue people in the area.