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4- PORT PERRY STAR - Tuesday, January 20, 1998 "Scugog's Community Newspaper of Choice" Firefighters watch helplessly as two men ride into water By Chris Hall ' Port Perry Star Watching two snowmobile riders plunge Into open water right in front of him was one of the most horrible things Dave Ballingall says he's ever witnessed. The District Fire Chief said that there was little he could do as 31-year-old Shane Cobb and 35-year-old James Riley vanished beneath the frigid waters of Lake Scugog shortly after midnight Friday (Jan. 16). "Watching those guys go in was one of the most helpless feelings I've ever had. I was there watching those guys go in and there was nothing me or my crew could do," he said. D.C. Ballingall, along with his crew of firefighters, was already set up on the icy shores of Sunrise Beach, located on the east side of Scugog Island, searching for a 20-year-old View Lake man who had slipped beneath the ice over two hours earlier when the two machines came flying along. It was their secand search and rescue call for the night. Firefighters had just returned from helping with the rescue of five people in Mariposa Township when they were dispatched to Scugog Island to search for Chris Raines, 20, who, along with his freind 20-year-old Mark Ward, had gone into-open water at approximately 10 p.m. that night. "Once set up on Sunrise Beach we began our search for the Raines boy," said D.C. Ballingall. "We were surveying our situa- tion and were looking at the water when we saw two sleds coming from the north and heading right for the water. "I got out my flashlight and started waving them down -- trying to get their attention -- and they slowed when they got to us, but were still too far out to holler to. They then veered left, looking at a landmark of lights, and accelerated south- east, right towards the water." After seeing that, D.C. Ballingall says that he knew what was coming. : "When they turned away from us I just told the guys to hurry up and get ready, because we're going to have a couple of live ones in a few seconds. Within 20 sec- onds they were in the water. "I could hear the machines hit the water and I saw the headlights of one of them veer right, like he was trying to turn and come back in. We could see them -- they made it about 30 or 40 feet out before they ran out of power -- and then we lost their lights." Scrambling to don equipment and ready a Zodiac boat, firefighters were at the rift within minutes. "We responded as quickly as we could and when we got there was a guy on the edge of the ice trying to get out. We got . him in and brought him back ashore before looking for the other one," said D.C. Ballingall. "We spent the next two hours searching and found helmets and gloves, but no body." Later, during their search, emergency crews used the helmets of the riders to isolate the whereabouts of the drowned men. "Riley still had his helmet on and we found Hobb's, Raines' and Ward's so we kind of went that way," he said, estimating that the accidents were several hundred feet off the shores of Scugog Island. Crews followed the tracks left in the slush from Ward's and Raines' machines to determine where the sleds went in. The machines of the younger riders were found approxi- mately fifteen to 20 feet apart, he added. [ eR \ JEFF MITCHELUPORT PERRY STAR Police divers watch from shore as their colleagues prepare to make a dive from an air boat brought in from Metro Saturday. The search continued until dark that day without the recovery of the two bodies. RIK DAVIE/PORT PERRY STAR Mark Ward, who survived the ordeal on Lake Scugog Thursday night, scans the ice as divers search for the body of his friend Chris Raines Sunday. Bodies recovered from Scugog From page 1 boot. About 24 hours later, on a similar cold and over- cast afternoon, divers final- ly found the body of Mr. Cobb, a father of three. As of noon Monday, | police report finding the 1980 Yamaha 440 SS rode by Mr. Raines and the 1991 SkiDoo driven by Mark "Ward. The 1987 Yamaha EX5 owned by Shane Cobb and the 1992 Polaris rode by James Riley had yet to be found. Police say that Mr. Raines and his friend Mark Ward, 20, of Greenbank, were riding their machines around 10 p.m. on Jan. 15 when they hit a large open body of water between Caesarea and Scugog Island and both machines sank. Mr. Ward quickly shed his helmet, suit and boots to prevent the weight from dragging him down. His friend was unable to, and disappeared beneath the cold water. After struggling to make his way out of the water and on to safe ice, Mr. Ward walked more than a kilometre along the ice to the home of Tom and Elizabeth Vanderende in just his t-shirt, trackpants and socks. Emergency crews were called and the Greenbank youth was given a warm shower. Around 12:33 a.m. as they searched for Mr. Raines, firefighters saw two more snowmobiles making their way toward the open water. The riders, who were travelling west away from Washburn Island, hit the open patch of water and sank, police say. Firefighters launched a Zodiac boat and were able to rescue 35-year-old James Riley of Washburn Island. The second rider, Mr. Cobb, was not located. The only item of the lost riders found that night was the helmet of Mr. Ward, which police say was dis- covered shortly before 12:30 a.m. Returning the next day (Jan. 16), Durham Regional Police officers set up a mobile command unit on the shore of Sunrise Beach, and were joined by Scugog firefighters. After much preparation a crew of five divers and five firefighters made their way out to the open water to recover what they believed was the body of a male trapped under the ice. After almost two hours of trying to reach the object, police found the dis- carded snowsuit and hel- met of Mr. Ward, said Sgt. Ken Hudson, an officer with Port's 26 Division and the media contact during the incident. The search party was called back after police diver Mitch Martin had water enter his wetsuit. He was returned to shore suffering from mild hypothermia. As the search continued through the weekend it was noted that while the air temperature remained bitterly cold, the open body of water remained. "It's been so mild lately and we had some rain, so that probably helped weak- en the ice," Sgt. Hudson said Friday. "There is a good current of warm water up the mid- dle of the lake there -- the lake is spring fed warm *water and there is a shal- low channel running right through there -- that is why the middle is so thin, and now open," he said. "The top of Washburn Island and down to Caesarea and View Lake is all really thin, or open. In some spots the water may be shallow, but it is cold." The search continued on Saturday with the aid of an airboat from Metro Police. Divers searched the murky water with sonar. During the efforts over the past four days many onlookers have taken to Sunrise Beach to catch a glimpse of the operation. Much to the amazement of the crowd, emergency crews and the survivors of the incidents, snowmobil- ers continued to buzz around the shore area, and ride across the lake. Some even ventured near the rescue site and the open water. Ontario Provincial Police in Lindsay reported that five people went into the water around 9:30 that same evening as the fatal incidents. ~The weekend search for two men lost in the cold waters of Lake Scugog tested the equipment and stamina of Durham and Moire Toronto pelice divers, some- times almost to the breaking point. "We are grateful to Metro for their help in this recovery operation. Without the airboat and the extra divers this would have been very near impossible," said Durham Police diver Mitch Martin. s were here." The search was difficult because of » "As soon as we called, the Toronto weather and ice conditions, said Const. . Martin, who himself had to be pulled from the water Friday after a leak in his thermal diving suit left him hypothermic and unable to walk unassisted. Divers made repeated dives into the cold, murky waters of Lake Scugog, and were repestedly frustrated by conditions. At one point, Const. Martin said divers were searching for bodies in waters - Where they had zero to four feet of visi- is recovery is difficult because it is Cold, murky lake hampered divers' search for accident victims neither an open water nor an ice search situation," he said. "We have conducted sweep searches in the area that we locat- ed Mr. Raines' machine, but we in fact located him almost 100 feet away from where the machine entered the water. "We searched correctly, he just hap- ened to be in the last area of search. e're just glad we could do this for the families © Golo pie ~The search for the remaining victim, Shane Cobb, made use of 'cadaver dogs. 'The animals can find bodies buried under ice. Const. Martin said the dogs help to snow, rubble and in some cases, water or give the divers a point of reference. Mr. Cobb's body was found by Durham Police divers around 2:25 p.m. Monday. Earlier in the day, Const. Martin said he and his colleagues would keep on div- ing until the body of the second victim was recovered. : "I'm'not in charge of how long we can stay at it, but we want to bring this to a conclusion for the families." ; - Rik Davie ohn tfc At a : SM