Yellowknife, N.W.T. - It's official - spring has arrived and as you can no doubt tell, the snow and ice is quickly disappearing.

With temperatures expected to be in the double digits for the foreseeable future, the Yellowknife Fire Department is telling people to be careful if they decide to venture out toward lakes and rivers.

Fire Chief Darcy Hernblad said people who plan to do some activities near open water areas should be taking some extra caution.

“The approaches are starting to melt and there’s open water starting to show in places,” he said. “We just ask everybody to use extreme caution. We’re not going to say stay off the ice, but we just want everyone to be aware of their surroundings and be very careful out there.”

Hernblad said it's always tough to predict when ice will melt each year, but there are several ways to show when ice is about to give way.

“Anywhere that is near rivers or where rivers are flowing in, lots of rocks and dark spots that are showing, everything where the sun is going to help penetrate the ice, is going to help make the ice deteriorate quicker,” he said.

If you are going to be on the ice, Hernblad suggests not to do it at night, always travel with someone else or in a group, avoid alcohol and even have a floatation device with you.

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