Ice skater’s body recovered after group fell into California reservoir north of Lake Tahoe
A Truckee man drowned after several people fell through the ice while skating at a reservoir north of Lake Tahoe, authorities said.
Eight people were ice skating on Stampede Reservoir when the ice broke, sending six of the eight into the water, the Sierra County Sheriff’s Office said in a Saturday news release.
The two who did not fall in were able to assist five of the remaining six out of the icy water, but the group lost contact with the final skater.
Emergency crews including dive teams with the Placer County Sheriff’s Office and Washoe County Sheriff’s Office in Nevada, the U.S. Forest Service, Cal Fire, the California Department of Fish and Game, the Olympic Valley Fire Department and the Truckee Fire Protection District all responded for search-and-rescue efforts and to render aid to those who had been submerged.
Washoe and Placer dive teams recovered the body of the drowning victim late Sunday morning, Sierra County sheriff’s officials said in an update.
Sierra sheriff’s officials on Monday identified the victim as 72-year-old William Smallfield of Truckee.
“We urge everyone to stay off the ice on area lakes,” the Truckee Fire Protection District wrote in a Facebook post. “It is impossible to know the safety and stability of the ice, especially with the recent warmer temperatures.”
One of the other five people who fell into the water was taken to a hospital with a dislocated shoulder and released Saturday evening, the Sierra County Sheriff’s Office said. No other injuries were reported.
Stampede Reservoir is about 15 miles north of Truckee, just east of Highway 89.
This story was originally published February 7, 2022 at 7:42 AM.
