A major rescue mission was suspended once darkness fell Sunday night, March 6, after a girl fell through the ice earlier that morning just east of Mitchell. It will resume Monday morning, March 7 under the guidance of the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) and their search and rescue team.
An unidentified 10-year-old girl fell through the ice on Whirl Creek in Mitchell around 10:30 a.m., Perth East-West Perth fire chief Bill Hunter said Sunday afternoon.
Search and rescue crews from West Perth, St. Marys and Stratford were at the scene for most of the day, Hunter said, using ATV’s and boats. An OPP helicopter, drones and canine unit also helped in the search, he said.
“We put just about every resource we had available into action,” he said Sunday night.
Fire crews from Perth East and Sebringville were also searching for the missing girl on the riverbank, Hunter said.
“Big thanks to Stratford and St. Marys and their water rescue teams and their boats,” he continued.
Hunter also praised the effort of the WPFD, “who never fail to amaze me, once again doing what they do best in helping the community. It makes me proud to be their chief.
“That’s why we’re thankful to have the experts like the OPP’s search and recovery team,” he added. “They’ve got a plan and we’re moving into a support mode with them. They’ll take the lead on the search and we’re there to assist them.”
Hunter also asked all members of the public to continue to avoid the area.
“We heard comments on Facebook of people organizing a citizen search party. We don’t want anyone down here by the riverbank,” he said. “It’s dangerous enough with our trained personnel. As much as we appreciate the concern, we don’t want private citizens coming down to the river.”
OPP said in a statement Sunday afternoon crews were working in “treacherous conditions” and said citizen search groups could “hinder the rescue efforts.”
Firefighters from Sebringville who were part of the search effort kept an eye on the creek from a bridge on Road 160, near Frank Street.
Three area residents who asked not to be identified were also there overlooking the fast-moving creek Sunday afternoon, a creek that runs east to west towards Mitchell and through town.
“I heard on social media somebody had gone through the ice so I thought that I could be some eyes on a bridge, just seeing if I can help,” one man said.
Word about the emergency quickly spread through town that morning, the group said. They got to the bridge around 2:30 p.m.
“We have our own kids,” a woman said. “If it was my kid in the water, I’d want every set of eyes (looking).”
Whirl Creek is part of the Upper Thames River Conservation Authority. In its latest bulletin, the agency urged the public to stay off all frozen water bodies as the winter snow pack melts.
“Any ice cover will be weakened and unstable,” the UTRCA warned in its March 4 update. “Banks adjacent to rivers and creeks are very slippery and, when combined with cold, fast-moving water, pose a serious hazard.”
“The way the water is moving tonight, it’s incredible,” Hunter said. “There’s a lot of water coming off the fields … it’s a very dangerous area to be. Some of the banks that we were standing on at the start of the day are completely under water. It’s a very quickly evolving scene.
“It’s terribly tragic,” Hunter added.
