THUNDER BAY -- With temperatures getting colder the local search and rescue station is preparing to shut down for the season.
The Canadian Coast Guard’s seasonal search and rescue station in Thunder Bay is scheduled to close on Monday as sites on Great Lakes, Georgian Bay and St. Lawrence River in Ontario wind down operations before the bodies of water freeze.
Boats at those sites are designed only for open water and can’t operate in icy conditions.
Through the winter the Canadian and U.S. Coast Guards will use icebreakers for search and rescue operations and aircraft from the Department of National Defence if necessary.
The station is expected to reopen in April 2015.