The winter storm that roared through Davidson and area Jan. 3 also struck northeastern Saskatchewan forcing a group of four fishermen to tough out a night in the cold and their local RCMP detachment to issue a warning about travelling in winter weather.

Deschambault Lake RCMP Sergeant Dion Eddy said the four fishermen survived their ordeal thanks in part to taking a few precautions before heading out into the wilderness, which can serve as a lesson for other travellers in the province during the winter months.

“Let someone know where you’re going and when you’re going to be back, so if we have to come and attempt to find you that we have a starting point or a location to look for you,” said Eddy. “One of the big things is to dress appropriately. Also take extra supplies. These guys had extra heat. Make sure your car is full of gas in case you do hit the ditch and take a look at the weather and road conditions not just right now, but what they’re forecasting that is coming because it could be nice where you’re leaving from and then all of a sudden you’re in the middle of a big storm.”

The four men, who were all between 30 and 40 years old, provided details to family members staying behind indicating where they were going and at what time they would be back before embarking on an ice fishing excursion in the Deschambault Lake area. When the travellers failed to make it back home by midnight their family issued a complaint to the RCMP and a search party comprised of on-duty police and community volunteers set out to find the missing fishermen.

The search party used available resources and snowmobiles to comb Deschambault Lake in weather that fell below -30˚C with the wind chill the next morning before eventually locating the four men close to seven kilometres from their entry onto the ice. Their truck was stuck in the snow and ice and the travellers had stayed with the truck throughout the night.

The four fishermen were returned to shore at approximately 11:30 a.m. Jan. 4 a little chilly, but uninjured and happy to see their rescuers.

“They made some good decisions to save their own lives,” said Eddy, noting calls to find missing travellers is a common occurrence for most RCMP detachments due to cars getting stuck or people deciding to change their plans and stay an extra day somewhere that their family doesn’t know about. “They made the decision to stay with their vehicle. Had they gone walking it would (have been) harder to find them afterwards.”