At least 7 fatal water incidents happened in Fresno area since June. Here are the details
The tragic drowning of a 3-year-old in a Clovis pool is just the latest in several fatal incidents in the past two months in Fresno County and the San Joaquin Valley.
Officers arrived and found the unconscious boy before pulling him out of a pool in the 600 block of West Stuart Avenue around noon Friday, Clovis police spokesman Ty Woods said Monday.
Officers began CPR before emergency crews took the boy to Valley Children’s Hospital in Madera County, but he was pronounced dead Saturday.
Here are some other recent local fatal encounters with lakes, pools and canals:
- The Fresno County Sheriff’s Office said Saturday sometime around midnight four people were out on a small boat on Pine Flat Lake and a male passenger fell into the cold water on the northwest side of the lake, near the Deer Creek Recreation area. “We are treating this as a fatal boat accident,” Lt. Matt Alexander said.
- A man’s body was found floating July 1 in a canal that winds its way through central Fresno, officers said. Police and fire personnel responded about 1 p.m. after the body was spotted in the water near Blackstone and Fedora avenues, police said.
- Good Samaritans who were on a boat removed a man from the water of Millerton Lake and reported him to be unresponsive about 2 p.m. June 27, according to authorities. Identified as Martin Heth, 44, of Chula Vista, he was pronounced dead at Saint Agnes Medical Center.
- Fresno police said they received a call at 12:54 p.m. June 20 following an incident at Island Waterpark. Officers arrived as other first responders were performing CPR. The victim, Sirenio Cortez Coronado, 46, of Dinuba, was later pronounced dead at Community Regional Medical Center.
- A 15-year-old boy from Fresno died after he went missing for at least an hour June 19 while swimming with family at Millerton Lake, authorities said. Lifeguard staff found the teen, Armando Juarez.
- A Fresno woman, 38-year-old Fannie Chindapheth, died after going into a canal near Millbrook and McKinley avenues on June 2, Fresno police said. She is believed to have accidentally slipped and fallen into the water and was recovered nearly a week later.
This story was originally published July 20, 2021 at 10:56 AM.
Thaddeus Miller
Merced Sun-Star