On December 31, 2021, at approximately 12:17 am, The Pas RCMP received a report that a truck was stuck on Clearwater Lake. The three male occupants had been heading out to do some ice fishing when their truck broke down. They were stranded and ill-equipped for the plummeting temperatures. The temperature at the time was extremely cold, with a windchill factor of -38C.
The exact location of the stranded fishermen was unknown. It was determined that a search and rescue team – consisting of four RCMP officers, an off-duty paramedic, and a conservation officer – would attempt to locate the missing males, two aged 18 and a 19-year-old, from Steinbach.
After searching a large area of Clearwater Lake, the males were located in the northwest quadrant and transported back to safety. There were minor physical injuries to the stranded males and some of the searchers due to the extreme cold.