An incident in Airdrie ended in tragedy.

Two boys ages six and ten were playing on the back canals when both fell through the ice. Airdrie RCMP responded to the call but for the six year old it was too late.

Jeff Avery, Cochrane Fire Services, Fire Prevention Officer, says staying off stormwater retention ponds is an absolute must right now.

"We have been stressing that point for at least the last month just with the way the weather's been going, we had a record high of 15-16 degrees last week and that ice is melting fast. The same time last year we had news and parents calling us to see the thickness of ice and we don't test retention ponds. They are so unstable the water below the ice goes up and down, the only place we test is over at Mitford and we can tell people if that is okay to skate on; but the retention ponds we have always told people stay completely off as they're extremely dangerous."

If an accident were to happen, time is of the essence.

"Time is definitely the essential, if someone sees someone go through the ice and calls 911, by they time we get our ice rescue gear out we are looking at close to 7 to 8 minute response time depending on where it is, it only takes hypothermia 2 to 3 minutes to set in, so time is definitely against you."

Avery adds right now there is not a lot that can be done to enforce staying off the ice but that could change in the future.

"Unfortunately there is no bylaw in place for skating on retention ponds right now but I know the bylaw department does want to put it in for next season but right now we legally can't tell anyone to get off the ice, if we see they are by open water then absolutely we would get them off the ice one way or another. It is still fine for people to call 911 if they see people on those retention ponds and we will go ask them to leave but until it becomes bylaw we can't force them to do it."

Avery says the developer's, road's, and the fire department have all signed the retention ponds and the signs are there for a reason.