While the Central Valley deals with extreme heat this week, local officials warn residents about the dangers of swimming in unsupervised areas.
“I mean, just don’t. That’s the bottom line. You can’t get into that water and just get out of there,” said Shane Brown from the Fresno Fire Department.
Brown has spent the last few days training firefighters for water rescue missions. He says during the training, they were called to multiple water rescues, as more people try to find relief from the summer heat – often underestimating the power of the water. “They had the drowning at the Avocado Lake, the ponding basin, two from the canal… If you jump in the rivers around here, within one hour, you can expect to be approaching death. The hypothermic reaction happens instantaneously,” he said.