Thursday's Internet Edition, March 11, 2010.
ice at Miletree Lake
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Editor -
Two men were able to escape to safety after they fell through the ice at Miletree Lake on Sunday afternoon.
Roane County 911 director Melissa Gilbert said a cell phone caller reported at 1:49 p.m. that two adults had fallen through the ice. The Spencer-Roane Volunteer Fire Dept. was dispatched, but volunteers were called back before they could leave the station.
Gilbert said a second call four minutes after the first advised that the men did not need any assistance.
Lt. Clint Wilson of the Spencer Police Dept. and Deputy Matthew “Bo” Williams of the Roane Sheriff’s Dept. responded to the lake and talked with the men.
“By the time we responded, they had already gotten out and were back on the bank,” Williams said.
According to Williams, the two unidentified men had been fishing from the surface of the lake when the ice, rapidly melting during bright sunshine and temperatures in the 50s, gave way. He said one of the men fell in the water, and the other did likewise in an attempt to rescue the first.
“They had chairs set up and a hole dug (in the ice),” Williams said. “It was too warm for that.”
The Division of Natural Resources stocks the lake with trout each winter.
Williams, who said both men seemed to be fine after the incident, recognized the danger of the thin ice as he approached the lake, which is located off West Main Street.
“If you walk up to the lake and are stepping on slush, (ice fishing) is probably not a good idea,” he said.
