LAKE POYGAN, Wis.— Ice and dive services in Oshkosh experienced one of its busiest weeks ever after a powerful snow squall hit northeast Wisconsin this month.
Don Herman’s crew recovers vehicles that have fallen through the ice of lakes in Winnebago County.
His four truck convoy drove a half of a mile onto frozen Lake Poygan Thursday to locate two vehicles that fell through the ice when drivers panicked during the snowstorm.
“These are number 23 and number 24,” Herman said about the number of vehicles his crews have recovered since Feb. 18.
“There’s no snow on the lake, so no plowed roads, so people just wandered aimlessly,” said crew member Jim Nobbe. “With that snow storm people got nervous started driving, and they didn’t know where they were going.”
Nobbe’s role in this big job was to suit up and dive.
He was responsible for hooking the vehicles up to the multiple winches used to pull them out from below the ice.
“Luckily nobody died,” he said after overlooking the damaged and submerged vehicles.
Nobbe said all the incidents could have been avoided.
“If it starts storming like that and blowing, just wait the snow out. It doesn’t pay to risk your life or ruin your vehicle,” he said, stating people who are not familiar with the ice should simply stay on shore.