Airdrie boy's death prompts warning about ice levels on drainage canals

An official in the community of Airdrie, Alta.,says ice on a drainage canal can be deceiving and is urging caution after a little boy's death.

Wilf Richter, with Airdrie's planning and engineering department, said the overland drainage system is meant to capture rain water or snow melt and direct it away from homes in the surrounding neighbourhood.

With temperatures above zero last week, Richter said "obviously the ice got much more fragile and softer."

• Boy, 6, dies after falling through ice in Airdrie

"You've got water melt and snow melt going on top of the ice, it makes the ice softer, and even if it doesn't go on top of the ice, it certainly flows in from underneath," Richter said in an interview Tuesday.

"And where you might have had six inches or eight inches or a foot of ice, now you might have one or two inches, but you wouldn't know by looking at it visually from above."

2 brothers fell through ice

The six-year-old boy died in hospital Monday after he and his 10-year-old brother fell through the ice.

A woman who lives in the area called 911 after she saw the children go through the ice. Firefighters pulled the boys from the freezing water and they were rushed to hospital, but the younger boy died.

His 10-year-old brother suffered hypothermia and was in serious condition, though RCMP said his prognosis is good.

"The area where this happened is a residential area and they live in the area so it wasn't as if the boys had strayed far from home by any stretch," RCMP Cpl. Curtis Peters said Monday.

Drainage system has moving water

The drainage canal might have been frozen a month ago when temperatures were in the - 20C range, Richter said, adding someone could have theoretically walked on it, but shouldn't.

That's because the drainage system, like a river, has moving water. They're different than standing bodies of water, such as ponds, said Richter.

"Running water underneath ice is no guarantee that the ice is going to be thick and hold your weight."

'Show the family that we care'

There are signs warning that the waterway might be dangerous, he added.

A makeshift memorial including a colourful teddy bear and flowers has been erected on the pedestrian bridge above the canal. There was also a candlelight vigil Monday night in the neighbourhood where the boy drowned.

"Our lives aren't that important that we can't take the time and pay our respects and show the family that we care," said neighbourhood resident Vanessa Clarke.

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