3 Drown While Swimming at Recreation Lakes

Two North Hollywood men drowned Sunday afternoon while swimming in a restricted section of the Castaic Lake Recreation Area, where 20,000 had sought relief from the heat.

A third man was rescued minutes later after he lost consciousness in an unrelated incident on the other side of the lake, a popular fishing, swimming and picnic area about 45 miles north of downtown Los Angeles.

In Irwindale, a 16-year-old boy drowned while swimming in the lake at Santa Fe Dam recreation area, police said.

The names of the drowning victims were not released.

The two men who drowned at Castaic Lake were swimming about 2 p.m. in a fishing area on the northeast side of the lake where no lifeguards are stationed and “no swimming” signs are posted, said Charles Graham, chief lifeguard.

Sheriff’s Lt. Ed Chenal said two relatives, a man and a teen-age girl who are non-swimmers, watched the pair swim 15 yards off shore, then looked away. When they glanced back, the men were gone.

Seeking help, the male relative drove his pickup to a concession stand more than a mile away. The man apparently did not see public phones about 200 yards away.

The relative, who spoke mainly Spanish, had difficulty explaining what had happened to English-speaking workers, Deputy Hugh Kearns said. Three bilingual bystanders helped summon lifeguards. The translators boarded the patrol boat and shouted directions to lifeguards as they sped to the scene, said Greg Grasmehr, who piloted the boat.

Grasmehr said it took four divers about 10 minutes to find the bodies, which were on the lake bottom and obscured by weeds.

Lifeguards performed cardiopulmonary resuscitation when the victims were pulled ashore. The men were airlifted to Henry Mayo Newhall Memorial Hospital, where they were pronounced dead.

County Fire Capt. Roy Burleson estimated that the men had been underwater from 15 to 20 minutes.

About 10 minutes after the drownings, lifeguards pulled another man, who appeared to be intoxicated, from the water at Paradise Cove, a designated swimming area on the west side of the lake, Graham said. The man was later reported in critical condition at Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital.

Senior lifeguard Fred Elam said many people disregard “no swimming” signs at the lake. “I can announce on the loudspeaker for people to get out of the water, and they will,” he said. “But as soon as I leave, they are back.”

“People are lulled by the quiet. But the lake is dark and deep,” Graham added.

In the Santa Fe Dam incident, the teen-ager, a resident of Los Angeles, was swimming with his brother when he went under “for unknown reasons,” Irwindale Police Sgt. Ken Aguayo said.

Because of the murky, 30-foot-deep waters, lifeguards could not find the youth until two hours later. He was pronounced dead at a nearby hospital.