Fresno County Sheriff's Office encourages safety on the water

FRESNO COUNTY, Calif. (KFSN) -- The water can be a great way to beat the heat, but it also poses life-threatening danger.

The Fresno County Sheriff's Office is urging people to stay safe at rivers and lakes.

On Tuesday, four men were saved from the water in the Kings River near Sanger.

On June 22, five women floating with inner tubes had to be rescued from the Kings River when a tree in the water popped all but one of the tubes.

"In that certain case, they were all tied together. So that's something we typically don't encourage is do not tie yourself to other floaties because in a situation where one becomes trapped, you all become trapped," said Deputy Steven Kirkpatrick of the Fresno County Sheriff's Boating Enforcement Unit.

Kirkpatrick also encourages everyone in the water to have a life jacket approved by the U.S. Coast Guard.

With so many people heading to rivers this Fourth of July holiday, deputies want you to be prepared before you dive in.

"Develop a float plan, let friends and family know where you are starting and where you are ending, and roughly what time. That way, if and when we have a missing person call during that floating event, we kind of have an idea of what we can expect," said Kirkpatrick.

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