OTTAWA COUNTY, Mich. — Ice that formed on the shore of Lake Michigan from Muskegon south to Holland is unsafe, uneven and dangerous. From a distance it may look safe, but Capt. Clint Holt of the Grand Haven Department of Public Safety says it's dangerous.
"Sometimes it's the consistency of broken concrete," Holt said Tuesday.
Wave action and water levels can make ice on Lake Michigan more unpredictable than ice on inland lakes.
"No ice is safe ice, especially with Lake Michigan you got all of the heaving and the water level changes out there," Holt said.
One day after rescuers near Holland saved a 15-year old girl who got stuck on an ice shelf, others were venturing out on to the ice near the Grand Haven State Park.
Some individuals could be seen from shore crawling on the ice at the end of the pier, others were walking on ice closer to shore.
"Please stay off the ice," Holt said.
Karen Barrow of Grand Haven says she'll only experience the ice from shore, "I don't have the guts to walk on the ice like everybody else is; I'm not going to."
Members of Grand Haven's Department of Public Safety all have ice rescue training. Holt hopes those skills are not needed.
"There's a danger for rescuers to go out there and make those rescues."
Temperatures for the lakeshore this weekend are expected to be above freezing. That will very likely make the ice even more unstable.
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