PORTLAND (AP) – The Maine Warden Service warned people to check the thickness of ice before venturing onto frozen lakes and ponds as a snowmobile operator who crashed through the ice remained in critical condition at a Bangor hospital.

Brandon Reed, 19, of Enfield, was in the icy water for 15 to 20 minutes before his father managed to pull him out of the Cold Stream Pond on Monday, officials said. Reed was one of three people to go through the ice that day in Penobscot and Hancock counties.

The accidents underscore the need to test ice thickness before venturing out, said Mark Latti, a spokesman for the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife.

Conditions can vary even on the same body of water, so it’s up to snowmobile operators, skaters and fishermen to ensure the ice is safe, Latti said. “Conditions can change rapidly, and with over 6,000 lakes and ponds and more than 32,000 miles of rivers and streams, there is no one who can monitor ice conditions,” he said.

In Enfield, Reed and Chris McGinn, 19, of Lincoln, were trying to cross Cold Stream Pond when McGinn stopped because of concerns about the ice, Latti said. Reed continued on and plunged through the ice, he said.

McGinn went back to shore and got Reed’s father.

Troy Reed, 41, went to a neighbor’s house, where he got a canoe. Reed paddled out to the spot where his son was floating and pulled him to shore with help from a companion on another snowmobile, and a neighbor.

Reed lost consciousness during the incident and a team of emergency medical technicians performed CPR. He was treated at a Lincoln hospital before being transferred to Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor.

That accident occurred about an hour after two snowmobiles broke through ice on West Lake in northern Hancock County. The teenage operators were rescued by ice fishermen and were believed to be in good condition.

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