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Fools walking on Charles River ice spark massive emergency response; Red Line shuttles stack up
By adamg on Sat, 01/23/2016 - 6:52pm
Buses stuck on Cambridge Street by MGH. Photo by Caitlin Melnick.
First responders from both Cambridge and Boston and divers from Boston rushed to the Charles River near the Longfellow Bridge around 6:30 p.m. on what appeared to be a report two people might be in the river.
On reviewing the 911 call that sparked the response, though, officials realized the caller had reported two morons were walking on the ice on the Cambridge side of the river and was asking for police to go down and make them get off the ice. Crews on both sides of the river, having found no evidence of submerged bodies, quickly packed up to leave.
Because the bridge was shut to let police and firefighters look for people in the water, the shuttle buses that replaced the Red Line began stacking up on either side of the river.
Matthew Murphy reported around 6:40 p.m.:
Been sitting on a shuttle bus in Kendall Sq, Boston bound, for a half hour, begging driver to let us off. Begging driver for updates, too, but he sits stonefaced, not answering.
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Comments
it might be the land of the ice and snow
but this sounds more like a communication breakdown than the fault of the people walking on water
Can we charge the ice walkers for ..
Can we still charge the ice walkers for a terrorist hoax device, in this case 911?
Because some other idiot
Because some other idiot called 9-1-1, the people on the ice should be charged?
Don't worry, the government
Don't worry, the government will find a way to blame them for its own stupidity.
"its own stupidity"
"its own stupidity" in being concerned about people doing a stupidly dangerous thing? You must be fun at parties.
Why can't the driver let passengers exit the bus?
???
If A Driver Holds You Captive That Long And Won't Open The Door…
… there is a little valve in a small box, above or next to the rear door.
can't drop off between designated stops
I'm sure the employee contract indicates they can not drop off or pick up between stops. Even if traffic isn't moving at the moment, if a pedestrian is struck by traffic after getting off the bus, MBTA could be found liable for letting them out in non-designated area. Lawyers do love their money.
There's a little handle up
There's a little handle up next to the rear door. Pull it and you can push the doors open. No way in hell I'm staying trapped on a bus for no reason.
the reason
is that they closed the area to allow emergency services in for what they thought was people trapped in the water in the river, in january.
but yeah man, rage against the machine bro
For the MBTA, customers = cattle
As a commuter rail rider, I see it's not only on the commuter trains that the MBTA doesn't believe in communication... "but he sits stonefaced, not answering." SMH...
Vision Zero is no cure for stupid pedestrians
If they can't find a car, truck, bus, or train to get in front of, they will find some other way to harm themselves.
I'm sure you're as fit and
I'm sure you're as fit and coordinated as Tom Brady, but you see, 1 in 5 human beings have a disability. Many of which are invisible.
Is it really, REALLY, too much to ask motorists for a little consideration?
Vision Zero is about humans using land ways
Not about ice travel or even boat travel or any other sort of river travel
Jesus Christ people
I was famously a proponent on on-Charles ice travel. Last winter.
Last winter the temperature stayed below freezing for two weeks straight. Last winter February in Boston was as cold as the average February in Minneapolis. There was no liquid precipitation for two months (remember that rain stuff last weekend?). Last February the average temperature in Boston was 19. It's been below 19 this year three days. Three.
Last year the river froze over on January 8. I didn't ski on it until late February. Why? Because it takes a lot of cold and a long time to freeze something that solid. This year the river has open water. Remember when it was 50 a week and a half ago? Yeah, that's not conducive to ice formation. If it had been below zero every day for a week, then, maybe. But I would give it some time. Remember those guys in '04 who biked the river? January 2004 was possibly colder than last year: four nights below 0 and three days where the high didn't crack 10 (last year: 3, 0). That will freeze the river. A few nights in the upper teens will not. When the DCR and MSP called me and yelled at me and told me not to (not that it's illegal) last year, I gave them a ration. This year? Don't go out on the ice unless it's really goddamn cold.
Was it safe in late Feb / early March last year? Yes. About 8" under the bridges, and snow to spread the weight elsewhere. No inflow to the river. Just stay away from the northern shore, marinas and the Longfellow, where work on the bridge disrupts the ice. This year? Unless there's a stretch like Jan '04 or Feb '15, for god's sake stay off the river ice. This is something that comes along maybe once every 10 years. This is not one of those years.
(If you want to go on a frozen body of water, try the Public Garden. If there's not snow the skating is great—we did this last year before the snow hit—it's a tiny body of water and freezes after a few good cold days, and if you do fall through you're up to your kneecaps, climb out and run to a Starbucks or whatever to warm up.)
Now you see why
You may know all the common sense reasons for why you should/shouldn't go on the river ice. But most don't. The rule is "don't go on river ice". This way the three rare times you can think of to go on river ice don't matter. Yes, it means many people might miss out on a thrilling ice ski trip down a river once in their life. But, the tradeoff is these two nitwits don't drown.
To add to Kaz's point....
Emergency dispatchers aren't going to know what is going on the ice, even if its a month after an obvious freeze. If someone calls 911 and says there are people on the ice (they often don't know where they are or what is going on), someone is going to respond, and they really have to respond. That river has many areas that freeze at different times, have sections that don't freeze at all, have people attempting crazy things (ice fishing, climbing up bridges to test their winter climbing skills, suicide walks, etc).
So in the end someone makes rules. You either can go on the ice, or you can't.
It's not a river
It's a lake. It freezes. But these people, wow.
It's a river
The presence of a dam doesn't make a river not a river. There's still flow. You might not notice it in your casual strolls along the Esplanade, but it is there.