The victim is a 50-year-old man. No other details have been released.
His body was found floating in the water near Fedora and College in Central Fresno Sunday afternoon.
Several people who live nearby were out on their balcony when they spotted the body floating in the water and without a second thought they risked their lives to help pull the man from the water.
An ambulance rushes the victim to the hospital while rescuers perform CPR.
"I think he was fighting for his life."
Chelsea Turner was outside on her patio with her boyfriend and another person when they spotted the man in the water.
"We ran and hopped the fence and saw him and he was just floating there."
"My girlfriend was telling me 'what do we do? What do we do?' and... Just had to jump in the water," Rodney Shelton said.
They struggled to pull the body out but when they finally did, Rodney and Chelsea say the man's face was blue and his body was lifeless.
At least until they began CPR.
"He was trying to make it at least."
Police say when the man was taken to the hospital where he developed a heartbeat. Unfortunately it didn't last long.
Right now investigators are not sure when or how the man ended up in the water and they're investigating to figure out if he died before he ended up in the canal or after.
