Bill Thoennes had been out on the ice at Noonan Park for about an hour Thursday morning, clearing the snow in front of the warming house with the city's John Deere front-mounted tractor unit, when he began making passes down the middle of the frozen pond.

The director of the parks division of the city of Alexandria's Public Works department had gone down and back, and had started a third pass when the ice began giving way. It happened quickly, and Thoennes had to act fast.

"When the butt end of the tractor started going down, I jumped," he said. "I could see the water rising."

He jumped and ran with such speed that Thoennis' tennis shoes inexplicably did not even get wet.

The city's tractor didn't escape its fate, however. It partially sunk, lodging into the ice and presenting a new problem: how to remove it.

Shutter's Towing Co. was working the rest of the morning on that, using ramps and whatever else it could, and by noon or so they had managed to remove it and haul it to land.

The city just began work on clearing the ice for the popular skating rink on Thursday. The three consecutive days of sub-zero temperatures had created ice that appeared safe.

"We had checked at multiple areas and it was 6, 6 1/2 inches," Thoennes said. A skid loader had fallen through the ice a few years ago, maybe 10 feet to the south of this spot, and Thoennes said they found the ice in that area to also be a good half-foot thick.

However, that didn't turn out to be the case everywhere.

"We found spots where the tractor went down at about an inch and a half," Thoennes said. "It's a testament to how unsafe any ice can be. No matter how you check it, within feet you can be down from 6 inches to an inch and a half."

In a city such as Alexandria, word of what happened traveled fast. Cars began lining up along 10th Avenue to take in the view.

"I called the insurance company about 20 to 30 minutes after it happened and they had already heard about it before I even called them," Thoennes said. "They were expecting my call."

Fortunately, he was able to locate another tractor for the city to rent, and was already on his way to Wadena in the morning.

"It's the same make and model and everything. All of our sweeper attachment will fit on it," he said.

The city has a larger unit, a Bobcat Toolcat, but this particular one gets a lot of use.

"That piece is vital for us," Thoennes said, noting the city is responsible for sweeping and maintaining sidewalks in the downtown area. "That's why it's crucial I find a piece of equipment with a broom on it."

As for the prospect of getting back to work on creating an ice skating rink at Noonan Park, the city will be at a standstill for awhile.