Sometimes a story has two parts, and it’s important to realize what the main message is.
Yesterday, members of the Belleville Fire Department rescued a dog that wandered out onto the melting ice and managed to complete a successful rescue. It was a heartwarming story of courage, quick thinking and action, and a heartwarming picture of “man’s best friend” being pulled from the frigid waters of the Moira River.
Hopefully, the real message of this story isn’t lost behind the picture of our life-saving firefighters doing what they do best.
Days of warm temperatures, heavy rain before and during the day today, and other factors have made the ice in almost all areas completely unsafe to stand on or cross.
Yesterday, a dog almost died because it wandered out in an area where open water was visible.
It’s even less safe for those of us who weigh significantly more and stand on two legs.
This area has a tragic history of near misses and deaths that were related to incidents very much like the one yesterday.
This time we got lucky. We can avoid a repeat of this story if we all work together. Stay away from riverbanks. Talk to your kids about it. Make sure that you, your kids, pets and everyone you care about keeps a safe distance.
Winter is ending and spring has dangers all its own. Please don’t make me write another story about someone who confused March with January.
I’m Paul Martin and that’s what I see looking Beyond the Headlines.
