UC Merced police officers rescue 2 kayakers from Lake Yosemite

MERCED, Calif. (KFSN) -- A kayaker is safe after being rescued by two University of California, Merced Police Department officers.

Shortly after 11 a.m. Monday, the department got a 911 call that hung up without a response.

The call tracked back to the Lake Yosemite area, so two officers responded to make sure no one needed help.

Once on scene, they found one kayak with an elderly person in it and the other one empty in the Legrand Canal just south of Lake Road.

The kayaker told them his elderly sister had fallen into the water, and officers spotted her struggling next to the canal's steep embankment.

They quickly went to work, cutting through two sets of barbed wire fences to get down the embankment and pull her to safety.