Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
TWO TRUCKS are stuck in the ice Sunday near Clarence's Harbor at the south end of Lake Winnebago in Fond du Lac, Wis. Brett Lobajeski said he saw his brother, Robert, break through the ice and returned to try to help him. But his front tires also broke through the ice about 100 feet from his brother's vehicle.
FOND DU LAC, Wis. (AP) - Two Wisconsin brothers lost their trucks in Lake Winnebago after the vehicles broke through thinning ice.
Robert Lobajeski's truck went through the ice first after the pair finished riding their motorcycles on the ice. His brother, Brett Lobajeski, tried to pull the truck out, but his truck went in, too.
"We were finished riding for the day and I was out picking up the cones to get them back on the truck," Robert Lobajeski told The Reporter Media. "I just drove off the track and my truck sunk. I sat there stuck and I had him come out and to try and pull me out real quick. He just did a U-turn and his truck got stuck."
The trucks weren't far off recommended driving paths, but temperatures in the 50s on Sunday had softened the ice.
Robert Lobajeski's truck was partially submerged with its plow and rear bumper above the water. Brett Lobajeski's tires went through the ice about 100 feet away. Then his front end sank under the water when crews tried to pull the truck out.
Brett Lobajeski crawled through his truck window to escape; he said he doesn't expect the vehicle to run again. His brother eventually got out his door.
The two were helped by snowmobilers and members of the Otter Street fishing club who were on the lake removing ramps.
"I wasn't scared at all," Robert Lobajeski said.
