Columbus firefighters are warning you to be careful if you are thinking about going out on new ice on area lakes or ponds. They say that conditions are not yet safe.

Capt. Mike Wilson, spokesman for the Columbus Fire Department, said that the danger is especially great right now when many children are out of school.

Wilson said that you can’t really consider ice safe to be on unless it is six inches thick or more.

He said that’s because you don’t know what is happening underneath the ice you can see.

Columbus firefighters do maintain cold-water rescue gear, but it is always a danger both to the victim and the firefighters trying to make such a rescue.