On Sunday, February 15, two youths in Scharbeutz were rescued from a breaking ice floe on the Baltic Sea. The fire department conducted the operation using a line, ladder, and special suit, and the individuals remained uninjured. Many are calling for the reckless parties to cover the costs, but this is not legally possible.
In Scharbeutz, a resort town in Schleswig-Holstein, an ice floe broke off on the afternoon of February 15, carrying two youths. They had previously stepped over a roughly foot-wide crack in the ice, after which the section detached and they drifted away. Around 14:00, an emergency call alerted the fire department. "When our first response teams arrived on site, two people were on an ice floe in the Baltic Sea and the floe was drifting further and further from the shore," reported operations leader René Konietzny of the Scharbeutz fire department.
The rescue lasted about 30 minutes. The fire department reached the youths with a line, pulled them back, and secured them. A firefighter in a special ice rescue suit climbed onto the floe via a ladder and helped them to safety. Involved were helpers from multiple fire departments, a rescue boat, a drone team, emergency services, and police. The youths were handed over to medical services uninjured.
Many readers express anger on platforms like Facebook over the recklessness and demand that the individuals cover the operation costs. "Such people should pay for the rescue themselves... there were enough warnings not to go on the ice," wrote one user. Mayor Bettina Schäfer, however, refers to the law on fire protection and fire department aid services: Such operations to save life and limb cannot be billed. She appeals: "Stay on solid ground with both feet, watch your children and dogs."
David Siegmund, spokesperson for the Scharbeutz fire department, explains that frozen waves mark the boundary that should not be crossed. Markings are difficult due to the Baltic Sea's dynamics. "The Baltic Sea is very dynamic." In recent weeks, the fire department rescued dogs from the ice three times; the human rescue from an ice floe was a first in 20 years.
This incident is part of a series of ice accidents in the region since the start of the year, including rescues of humans and animals in Scharbeutz and surrounding areas. The fire department warns again of significant life-threatening danger on the thin, brittle ice.
