Special Equipment Breaks Ice, Helps Local Businesses

ANNAPOLIS, Md. (WJZ) -- Freezing temperatures make driving dangerous but they also turn Maryland's waterways to ice.

Marcus Washington explains why it's critical to break up all the ice that's formed this frigid winter.

Freezing temperatures are causing chunks of ice to form and that can cause dangerous and deadly conditions.

On the Severn River, this boat has one mission: break the ice. It's a job Captain Jeff Lill has done for 20 years. He knows lives and livelihood depend on his crew clearing a path.

"A lot of us forget there is a lot of commercial traffic that transits the area during the ice season," he said.

Meaning if the ice is not broken, a lot of local businesses suffer.

"You couldn't get through. All the work boats and stuff like that that are working all winter," said one man.

From the impact on business to the impact on lives, he cuts through when no one else can.

"In the event that another boat would sink---which has happened---those can make it out to them," Lill said.

He's talking about emergency boat responders, who need clear paths at all times. Lill says the past two years have been the worst he's seen in more than 20 years on Maryland waters.

"We're going back to the 90s before we saw ice as bad as this; '96, '94 were bad years," he said.

Tuesday, they broke up ice in Back Creek at the request of a man who says he needs this area to get boats in and out.

"They do work year round at the marinas, as far as on shore, so they like to move these boats and pull them up and they have heated buildings so they can work on them," Lill said.

Traveling around eight miles an hour, the ice cutter broke ice four to five inches think and makes it look easy.

"We prepare for the worst and hope for the best," Lill said.

In the fall, the ice cutting crew attends an ice conference with the Coast Guard and National Weather Service to gauge how weather will affect the water.