Our View: As the heat spikes, so do drownings

Yahoo

07-06-2025

Triple-digit temperatures are predicted for this weekend. Beyond that, the days are expected to be not much cooler.
It is a reminder that the blistering Bakersfield summer has started, and residents and visitors will look to water for relief.
But danger lurks in the many local swimming pools and the even bigger attraction, the Kern River.
Urging pool safety during a recent press conference, Kern County health officials promoted the department's Water Watcher program, which calls for designating adults to always keep close tabs on children frolicking around backyard pools.
They cited federal findings that drowning is the leading cause of unintentional, injury-related death for children ages 1 to 4. On average, 350 children under the age of 5 lose their lives to drowning every year in the United States.
Within the past five years, 16 children in Kern County have lost their lives to drowning: two in the Kern River, two in bathtubs and 12 in swimming pools.
In advance of the Memorial Day Weekend last month, county officials performed a grisly annual tradition — updating Kern Canyon entry signs to warn of the Kern River's danger.
This year, the number of drownings posted on the signs went from 334 to 342. Eight people were taken by the Kern in 2024. Last year's July 4th holiday was particularly deadly. Four people drowned.
The count, which began in 1968, doesn't include people who died in the upper Kern River, in Tulare County, which doesn't keep drowning statistics on its section of river. It also doesn't include people who are still missing and presumed dead in the river.
'We tell the public this every year: The Kern River is dangerous,' said Sgt. Rodney Jones, who oversees the Kern County Sheriff's Office's search and rescue division. 'Do not go in it without professional guides or gear.'
The water is cold and deceptively fast with numerous hidden hazards — branches, rocks, debris — that can snag you, trap you and pull you under, he said.
The division posts additional search and rescue teams on holidays along the river to respond to emergencies and remind people about the dangers. Asked if Kern officials would consider closing off the river, Kern County Sheriff Donny Youngblood responded with a firm NO.
'The river is a public place and there's way too many access points for us to patrol,' he said. 'You can't legislate stupidity. If you need to be told to stay out of that river, there's something wrong with you.'
Youngblood is right. It's up to all of us to heed repeated warnings and keep ourselves, families and friends safe.
■ Watch children closely. Never let them into the river unattended.
■ Do not go in the river if you can't swim.
■ Use adequate flotation devices, not drug store floaties.
■ Make sure someone in your party can contact 911. Service in the canyon is sketchy.
■ Alcohol (or other mind-altering substances) do not mix well with the river.
Several river rafting companies operate along the Kern. They offer safe and varying trips — depending on people's interests and experience.
SJV Water, a local news outlet that covers water issues, reports that with less snowfall this year, the river will be running lower than in recent past years.
But even though the water flow is lower, Jones noted that most people are not able to climb out if they are trapped on a rock.
As evidence, on Sunday a man was found dead in the river. The man had gone missing after swimming in Isabella Lake without a flotation device.
Just a few days later, a teenage girl was rescued from a tree in the river at Hart Park, just 90 minutes after another person was rescued from the same area, according to the Kern County Sheriff's Office. They were brought to shore uninjured.
Again, the Kern County Sheriff's Office urged the public to always wear a U.S. Coast Guard-approved lifejacket when in or near the river.
'Despite appearing calm in some areas, the river's cold temperatures, swift currents and hidden hazards can quickly turn deadly,' KCSO once again warned in a news release.