Ice fishermen escape death in Indian Pond Three in truck crash through thin ice

CHASE STREAM TOWNSHIP – Three men took a cold plunge in Indian Pond Sunday morning when the pickup truck they were in broke through thin ice.

Al Asselin, 40, of Arundel, the owner and driver of the pickup truck, his son Jason Brown, 17, of Arundel and Asselin’s brother Joe Asselin, 44, of Rockwood had planned to spend Sunday ice fishing on Indian Pond when the accident occurred. Also with them was Asselin’s dog, Wolfy, a mixed breed.

“It’s definitely an experience I don’t want to do again,” the younger Asselin said Sunday afternoon. “We were fortunate it [the truck] just didn’t disappear [under water] instantly.”

The men told local Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife wardens that they had stopped at the Burnham Pond Road landing to check the ice.

Al Asselin said the trio determined there was two feet of ice on the pond, enough to hold their vehicle, so they continued on.

In a telephone interview, Asselin said he had driven about two miles on the ice when he spied a dark spot ahead. He said he tried to stop the truck, but it slid and broke through the ice.

The men rolled their windows down and climbed through them as the water rose up to the top of the doors, he said. After falling into the water, the men managed to pull themselves up onto thicker ice.

At the same time, Asselin said he was hollering for his dog to get out of the truck, but he wouldn’t budge.

“I kinda slid over [the ice] on my stomach and grabbed him and pulled him out,” he said. Then the truck disappeared before their eyes.

Wet and exposed to 10 degree below zero air, Asselin said their clothing froze on their bodies, but they were able to walk more than a mile to a remote camp that was inhabited.

“We were cold. Our clothes were frozen like a Popsicle,” he said. The campowners helped the men remove their clothing and get warmed.

Had the owner of the camp not been there, Warden Adam Gormely said the nearest help would have been seven miles away. “They never would have made it,” he said. “They don’t realize how close to death they came.”

Gormely said Warden Pilot Charlie Later flew over the area and told Gormely that a few yards from where the truck went through the ice it was open water.

“Their luck is unbelievable,” Gormely said. The men landed in the water where there was ice that could hold them, they managed to escape the vehicle before the truck was sucked underwater and they didn’t have to walk the seven miles. “They ought to go out and buy a Megabucks ticket.”

This should be a lesson for anyone contemplating driving a vehicle on the ice this winter, Gormely said. No ice-covered ponds or lakes are safe to drive on because of the weather conditions, he said.

Asselin must now make arrangements to have his 1995 GMC extended cab pickup truck removed from the approximately 40 feet of water where it rests.