There are already people skating and fishing on some lakes in our area, but according to some, it's just too soon to trust the ice.
Some smaller, shallow lakes have a thin covering tonight, including Little Lake in Barrie.
Hockey players out on the ice may think it's safe but Barrie's fire department says it's not.
“I was shocked that the parents would allow the kids out when I saw the footage yesterday on the news,” says Sandy Stevens with the fire department.
It's not just skaters that are out there. Today people were fishing in the middle of the lake.
Jim Cole lives along the lake. He says those out there are just an inch or two from going through.
“It's just carelessness going out there,” Cole says. “They don't know what's underneath that snow. Could be three inches of ice, it could be half an inch of ice. I don't know why they do it.”
Fire crews were out at the lake today checking the thickness of the ice.
Four inches is enough to walk on according to the experts, but ice thins out the further out you go.
“The ice conditions may be different a foot apart,” Stevens says. “It may be safe where you are walking and the guy right beside you could fall through just the way the current is going. It could weaken the ice every three feet…”
Des Kelly saw people out on the ice today and came by for a close up look.
“I wouldn't be out in the middle where those guys are,” he says. “Especially with a heater and a shack. You know, you only got an inch and a half and you got a heater and a shack, that's going to melt.”
The fire department is pleading with people to stay away from all bodies of water until later in the season. They remind people the ice may be thick along the shore but say there are just too many unknowns further out.
