Saskatoon brings the heat in fight against giant icicles

Saskatoon's war against giant icicles continued this week, this time with hot water the weapon of choice.

A crew was busy throughout the day using hot, pressurized water to melt a three-storey high ice structure that was flowing out of an apartment building.

It was similar to a 10-metre-long icicle that was taken down from another Saskatoon apartment building last month. Neighbours had expressed concerns that if left alone, it might keel over and crash into people's homes.

That one was destroyed over several hours by men armed with chain saws and sledgehammers.

This latest one, at 630 8th St. E., was a little trickier to deal with, because the ice had frozen around power lines.

Fire marshal Wayne Roger said hot water was a safe way to get the job done.

Giant icicles have been spotted around the city this year following a winter of particularly heavy snowfall and a series of freezes and thaws.

The city's unprecedented icicle situation has hit the news around North America. For a while, a Twitter user was tweeting out regular dispatches as @gianticicle.