An ATV rider found out the hard way that the ice on Brydon Lagoon in Langley City wasn’t thick enough on Tuesday morning.
Witness Kirby Hanawalt saw the driver go in while making circles on the frozen surface around 9 a.m.
”I just said, there’s a dumb person,” Hanawalt commented.
Hanawalt said the driver was getting too close to the thin ice near the aeration pumps that help circulate oxygen in the man-made pond.
“The ice is not going to be too thick there. There was an adult the other day ice skating, and they got too close and went in [too].”
He captured the moment on video.
“Brydon Lagoon is so shallow that I didn’t really worry about it, because it’s only about three feet,” Hanawal said.
Another witness, who didn’t want to be named, was not surprised.
“We’d just got to the duck pond and there was a fellow out there on an ATV doing donuts and whipping all around the outside, and then they were going in the middle, and the softer ice gave way, which we were all expecting to happen.”
“He [the rider] managed to get out and then climbed back on it like he was gonna try and get the ATV out. And of course that didn’t happen and then he just took off down the road.”
RCMP, bylaw enforcement and parks crews arrived at the scene shortly afterwards.
Langley RCMP Cpl. Zynal Sharoom said there was no risk to public safety.
“We have determined that the individual actually left on foot, so there’s no safety concerns at this point,” Sharoom told the Langley Advance Times.
“We would just like to remind the patrons out here to be careful of the thin ice because it is still not strong enough to hold a lot of weight.
Sharoom said the investigation has now been turned over to Langley City bylaw enforcement.
City crews were expected to remove the ATV.
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