SPRINGFIELD, MA (WGGB/WSHM) -- As temperatures drop, officials said that life-threatening dangers can rise if you’re not cautious. “People are flirting with disaster going out on the ice right now,” said Springfield Fire Commissioner BJ Calvi.

The frigid weather might have you thinking about skating or ice fishing, but Calvi warned that you might want to put those plans on ice before you fall through it. “Ice isn’t safe to walk on until it’s at least four inches thick. It’s not safe to put a UTV, a light UTV on until it’s about five inches thick,” he explained.

Even though, to the naked eye, some ice might seem safe, Calvi told us it’s going to take one to two more weeks before it actually gets to that point. “You need some weather in the 20s to really start freezing the ice up and making it thick. I would guess about a week and a half, two weeks of solid cold weather before the ice is safe,” he added.

If you decide to ignore those warnings, you’re not just endangering yourself. “Ice rescues are very manpower intensive. It takes several companies to perform an ice rescue safely,” Calvi said. “It’s a personnel heavy operation to do an ice rescue.”

It is advised, even when the weather is suitable, that you avoid the weaker edges of a body of water like this one and let someone you trust know if you plan on engaging in an activity like ice fishing.

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