Waterways in Fresno area have already seen a dozen rescues. Sheriff’s crews prep for more

The Fresno County Sheriff’s Office is preparing for what could be a long summer of water rescues as people begin making their ways to the area’s lakes and rivers.

“All of last year we had one drowning in a Fresno County waterway,” said Sheriff’s Office Sgt. Jeff Stricker, during a training session at Lost Lake on the San Joaquin River on Monday.

“This year we’ve already had five or six,” he said.

That is about half of the 12 to 15 calls the rescue teams have taken this year. Members of the sheriff’s dive and search-and-rescue teams, along with its boating enforcement and air support unit took part in the training session.

It came one day after two brothers, 25-year-old Silverio Calihua and 23-year-old Alvaro Calihua, died while swimming at Avocado Lake in Fresno County. One of the brothers was pulled from the river by other lake visitors. The Fresno County Sheriff’s Office Dive Team conducted a two-hour search to find the other.

Swimming in a lake or river is vastly different from being in a backyard pool and should be avoided by those who aren’t good swimmers. Those people should at very least wear a properly fitted safety vest when in moving waters, Stricker said.

“Moving water is incredible dangerous.”