Baddeck residents call for warning signs after man slips through ice at falls

CTV Atlantic: Residents call for warning signs The amazing ice rescue of a young man at a Cape Breton waterfall still has a lot of people talking.

The dramatic rescue of a young Cape Breton man who fell through the ice near a popular waterfall on the weekend still has a lot of people talking.

It is not the first time someone has fallen through the thin ice at Uisge Ban Falls near Baddeck, N.S.

Anne Anderson, 18, was hiking with a friend last March when the snow and ice covering the falls gave way.

“A chunk of the ice gave way, only one foot went through at first, but the current was so strong from all the snow melting and coming down the falls, that it caught on the snowshoe and pulled him the rest of the way underneath,” says Anderson.

Anderson says she reached into the water and pulled him to safety. She says they would have stayed away from the area had there been signage about the thin ice.

“There should definitely be a sign put up at the falls to warn people,” she says.

Vince Forrestall was among those who rescued the young man who fell through the snow and ice this past weekend.

He agrees with Anderson and has contacted the Department of Natural Resources, which is responsible for the falls, saying it is time for a sign.

“If there is signage that can be placed up there, just warning participants, you get non-residents too, who may not know the trail,” says Forrestall.

Technically, the falls are closed this time of year, but DNR officials say plenty of people can and do hike the falls anyway, at their own risk.

DNR spokesperson Bruce Nunn says a sign is coming, although he didn’t specify where it will be posted.

“The sign will simply remind people that when they’re in the woods, they need to take good care and caution, because there are some risks. There is a waterfall there, there may potentially be some thin ice,” says Nunn.

“It should come to peoples’ minds not to go on the ice in the first place, but a lot of times it doesn’t, just a sign, I think, would help a lot,” says Anderson.

With files from CTV Atlantic's Ryan MacDonald