Emergency officials stress safety after weekend river drownings

Niko King stood at the edge of the Sacramento River late Sunday afternoon, his tired eyes trained on the scads of bodies lured to the cold water by the weekend's sweltering heat.

"I see about 500 people in the water without life jackets," said a weary King, a Sacramento Fire Department battalion chief who spent much of his weekend duty responding to drowning calls. "It's the time of day we usually get the calls. The parents start to get complacent."

At that moment, King spotted a little girl about 50 yards from the shore and watched as she began to struggle in water that had reached her chin. The girl's mother, wading in a shallow area several feet away, saw the child and lunged for her, pulling the wailing girl into her arms.

"What the hell was that?" King asked, adrenaline surging.

Minutes later, a shaken Erica Embrey was back on the Discovery Park beach with her 5-year-old daughter, Madison, who was fine but still weepy.

"There's a deep spot over there," Embrey told King, who kindly reminded the mother about drowning risks.

"I couldn't find her life jacket," Embrey explained, sheepishly.

"It's in my toy box, Mommy," responded Madison.

The rash of drownings and near drownings this weekend – a week before the official start of summer swimming season on Memorial Day weekend – has public safety officials alarmed.

The Sacramento Fire Department has launched a public awareness campaign stressing two points: wearing life jackets and demanding greater parental supervision.

King had gone to Discovery Park's Tiscornia Beach with two boat crews and an engine crew.

As the afternoon wore on, the firefighters practiced water rescues and reminded swimmers and boaters to take safety precautions. For King, it seemed like the right place to be after recent water tragedies.

In one case, a 20-year-old man was pulled out of the American River on Saturday evening.

He died just before 7 p.m., the Sacramento County Coroner's Office confirmed Sunday. Teha Pen of Sacramento had disappeared under the water's surface near the Howe Avenue boat ramp.

Pen had been wading in the river about 6 p.m. when he lost his footing and went under, the Sacramento Fire Department reported. He was not wearing a life jacket, and relatives told authorities that he did not know how to swim, Fire Capt. Jim Doucette said.

Pen's drowning followed the death Friday of an 11-year-old girl. Monserrat Alegere of Richmond had been swimming with family members at Tiscornia Beach when she vanished under the water. Rescuers found the girl about 30 minutes later. Authorities said she was not wearing a life jacket.

Firefighters and paramedics were called to the same location shortly after 7 p.m. Saturday. A 4-year-old boy had been pulled out of the river.

The child, who was not wearing a life jacket, became separated from his father in the water and submerged momentarily. By the time the child was located again, he was unconscious, but bystanders managed to revive him, Doucette said. He was crying when paramedics arrived.

Damian Barham was in his boat at Discovery Park on Sunday afternoon with family and friends when his 13-year-old son, Jaisun Andrade, spotted a little girl waving for help. The child, about 10 and wearing a blue floral bathing suit, appeared to be all alone.

"She was paddling at the edge of the brown water," said Barham, who reached from the side of his boat and pulled her in. "I would hope someone would do it for mine."

Back on shore, the boaters couldn't find the girl's parents but admonished her.

"I said, 'That was your second chance, honey,' " said Lorita Vasquez, another parent who had been on the boat with Barham. "Don't swim in the water here. People drown every day."

Ron Roberts, president of the Drowning Accident Rescue Team (DART), said a confluence of conditions, especially low water levels at the American River, is drawing more people to venture out into deeper waters, unaware of swifter currents and foot entrapments lurking beneath the surface.

Roberts said he usually wouldn't tout new laws governing how people spend their pastimes. But given what he has seen and experienced recently, he said he would support any effort to require people to wear life preservers.

"I hope it's not a sign of the times," Roberts said of the spate of drownings and near-drownings. "I hope that people are paying attention to what's going on."

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