This past weekend, the Nome Police Department twice responded to search-and-rescue requests for people stranded on sea ice.
According to an NPD dispatch, three minors under the age of 18 were drifting away from town on ice floes behind the Nome Mini Convention Center. Members of the Nome Volunteer Fire Department (NVFD) along with NPD responded to the scene at 6:30pm Sunday night.
NPD says Josh Gologergen put on a cold-water survival suit and used an inflatable raft to help the minors return to land safely.
Later that same evening, after 9pm, NPD received a second report of minors stranded on sea ice near the state building. This time, a rope was used to pull the two youth back to shore.
No injuries occurred in either incident.
Image at top: Scattered coastal sea ice along the shore of Nome, March 2019. Photo: David Dodman, used with permission.