POOR CONDITIONS

Vermont Ice Fishing Competition Canceled After Three Deaths

Subpar ice conditions on Vermont’s Lake Champlain have been attributed to warmer-than-average winter temperatures.

An ice fishing competition in Vermont was canceled after three men fell through the ice and died. The Islands Ice Fishing Derby was set to take place Saturday through Sunday on Lake Champlain and is one of the region’s largest competitions of its kind, CNN reported. But the annual event was called off Sunday after John Fleury, 71, and his brother Wayne Fleury, 88, fell through the ice while driving their utility vehicle across the lake’s surface Saturday, local police wrote in a press release. They both died a short time later. Just days before, on Thursday, Wayne Alexander, 62, also fell through the ice while walking, according to Vermont State Police. The subpar ice conditions that led to their deaths were attributed to warmer-than-average winter temperatures, according to the National Weather Service’s outpost in Burlington, Vermont.