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N.D. (NewsDakota.com) – Two Bismarck anglers were rescued from a Kidder County lake Tuesday night, after they couldn’t get back to shore because the ice had heaved and melted away from the shoreline.

The North Dakota Game & Fish Department reports that game Warden Greg Hastings, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service warden Ben Cleghorn, and Stutsman County Sheriff’s Deputy Damian Hoyt used an air boat to reach the anglers and bring them back to shore.

“This was a serious situation where everything turned out OK,” said Game and Fish enforcement chief Robert Timian, “and it’s also a critical warning that ice conditions can vary from lake to lake, and can even change during the day, depending on the weather. Anglers need to use extreme caution before venturing out on the ice right now.”

Warden Hastings received a call from state radio at about 7:45 p.m. Tuesday, with information that two men were stranded on the ice at Round Lake near Pettibone, N.D. Hastings contacted Cleghorn, who picked up the air boat at Arrowwood National Wildlife Refuge near Pingree.

Hastings periodically spoke by mobile phone with one of the anglers, letting him know they were on the way, and that the anglers shouldn’t move from their location.

The law enforcement officers arrived at the lake about 9 p.m., and the anglers were safely back on shore about 9:30 p.m.