Pair snowshoe across river

Following an incident yesterday when two American snowshoers were escorted back across the border after crossing the ice on the Rainy River here, the local fire chief is stressing no one should try to repeat that behaviour.
According to eyewitnesses from the far east end of Second Street East, a young man and young woman were spotted crossing the river around 10 a.m.
OPP officers and the Fort Frances Fire and Rescue Service were called to the scene, where they waited for the couple to arrive at the dock near the Harbourage Restaurant and Rainy Lake Sports & Tackle.
“They made it across amazingly. I live right there and I was watching them,” said Fire Chief Gerry Armstrong, who happened to be off that day but lives on the riverfront.
“Fortunately there was no need of any rescue,” he added.
But Chief Armstrong stressed that under no circumstances should anyone try to do the same thing.
“If there’s any gates open on that river at all, you go through that ice and you’re gone. That’s the way the river is,” he remarked. “In all the years I’ve lived around here, I’ve never seen anyone walk across that part of the river before.
“Stay off the ice on the river,” Chief Armstrong said.
“Most of the time in January, the river has open spots in it. Even this morning, there was a trail of water right across it.
“Of all places to be wary on the ice, it’s certainly the Rainy River,” he added. “In the upper river there, there’s never any amount of ice.”
After the pair made it to the shore, police, who had contacted Canada Border Services by this time, escorted the pair to Canada Customs here.
Greg Mercure, chief of operations for the Canada Border Services Agency, said this morning that officers administered an admissibility interview to the pair, who were identified as “foreign nationals” (i.e. not Canadian) and they were sent back over the border to Minnesota.