A Casper man is recovering after rescue crews were able to pull him to safety, after he fell through the ice on the North Platte River on Monday, February 24th.

Casper Fire EMS says sometime before 9am, a call came in, regarding a man in his 40's, who had fallen through the ice on the river, near the intersection of Ashter and Daisy, on the southwest side of the city.

Spokesman Pat McJunkin says the man was pulled to safety, within 10 minutes after rescue crews arrived on scene, but no one knows how long he had been in the water before then.

As for why the man was out on the ice...

"He had indicated that he was walking to someone's house and had decided to shortcut across the ice, so one of those things that is tempting to do, but do not do that under any circumstances. That ice is very difficult to tell what kind of condition it's in. It's never safe to cross the ice."

McJunkin says it seems that so far this year, there's been an increase in the number of winter water rescues, compared to past years.

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