Falling Glacier Chunk Strands 2 Skaters on Frozen Alaska Lake

Two people were stranded and self-rescued from a glacier chunk that fell onto the ice in Portage Lake, Alaska, on Monday, Feb. 10, according to a Girdwood Fire and Rescue statement and an Alaska State Troopers’ dispatch report.

On Monday at 4:07 p.m., Alaska State Troopers received a report that there were skaters stranded on the shore of Portage Lake “after a piece of glacier calved onto the lake,” per the dispatch report.

Eyewitness Lauren Jobe told Anchorage Daily News she heard an unusual sound from the glacier, and pulled out her phone to record what was happening.

“I thought ‘Maybe this is just the sound a glacier makes,’ ” she said. “I wanted to show my family and friends. I had half a thought that it would be cool if a piece fell off, thinking that it would be 1/20th of what actually fell off.”

However, Jobe ended up recording the moment the enormous piece of ice, roughly the size of a building, fell off Portage Glacier and collapsed into the lake below. After the piece fell, Jobe and her skating companion managed to get to safety, but the other two skaters couldn’t get to a stable chunk of ice, Michelle Weston, Girdwood Fire and Rescue chief, told the outlet.

Fellow bystanders used a two-way communication device to help the stranded skaters call for safety. (The area impacted was a cellphone dead zone.) After 30 minutes, Girdwood Fire and Rescue first responders arrived on the scene.

An hour later, Alaska State Trooper and Alaska Army National Guard helicopters arrived at the lake, Weston said.

By 6 p.m., the stranded ice skaters reached safety with the help of ice climbers. They then met the Girdwood first responders on foot on the lake. The first responders did not report any injuries. Girdwood Fire and Rescue confirmed they used the SARTopo professional software to assist in the rescue mission.

“Thank you to the bystanders with inreach and sat phones and friends that were able to relay information to emergency crews,” read the Girdwood Fire and Rescue statement.

The organization said the group “was well prepared” and reminded people to carry extra snacks, warm clothes, and an InReach or satellite phone.

A representative for Alaska State Troopers did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for additional information on Wednesday.