A Pequot Lakes father and his adult son were grateful for area firefighters who rescued them after their ATV broke through the ice on Whitefish Lake Monday night.

Dave Gravdahl, general manager at Breezy Point Resort, and his son, Dan Gravdahl, were out fishing Monday afternoon on Upper Whitefish Lake when they decided to head home. As they were driving the ATV toward the Old Whiskey Road lake access they broke through the ice about a half-mile from shore, Dave Gravdahl estimated. They were fishing on eight to 10 inches of ice but didn’t realize as they were driving back to shore that they had ventured out on an ice heave, where the ice was only about one inch thick. The ATV sank to about 2-1/2 feet of water and landed on a second sheet of ice. Gravdahl used his cellphone to call 911 at 5:25 p.m. Monday.

“We were only about 20 feet from good ice but couldn’t get to it,” Gravdahl said. “It was just slippery, standing on the other ice, so we climbed back on it (the ATV).”

Gravdahl also called his wife, Jan, and told her they’d be a little late, explaining their predicament.

They were rescued by Hovercraft about 45 minutes after they went in the water. Gravdahl said he had one leg in the water and water was up to his hip. He said the water was 32 degrees. They were checked by North Ambulance at the scene but were not injured, although Gravdahl said a paramedic told him his blood pressure was a little high. They were able to drive away in their own vehicle from the lake access. The ATV was pulled from the water Tuesday.

“We’re pretty lucky. We’re lucky we’ve got the kind of support we have up here,” Gravdahl said. “You feel kind of dumb. I never thought I’d be dumb enough to fall through the ice.”

Gravdahl said the fishing wasn’t very good anyway. They didn’t catch anything, except maybe a cold, he joked.

“It could have been a lot worse,” Gravdahl said. “We’re really thankful for the people who came and got us. I felt bad to take them out of their warm houses and bring them out there.”

Assisting at the scene were the Ideal Township and Crosslake fire departments and the Pequot Lakes, Crosslake and Breezy Point police departments, as well as North Ambulance.

Crow Wing Sheriff Todd Dahl reminded the public in a news release issued Tuesday that traveling on the ice is inherently dangerous. He said those traveling on ice, especially during non-daylight hours, should inform someone when they’ll be home, wear appropriate cold weather gear and carry a cellphone on them at all times. With the extraordinary warm weather, ice conditions can be unpredictable.

JODIE TWEED may be reached at jodie.tweed@brainerddispatch.com or 855-5858.