Currently, Lifeguards in Hot Seat

The hot, muggy weather that has blanketed Orange County for the past few days has sent thousands flocking to the beaches in search of sea breezes and a respite from the stifling, furnace-like heat.

But the combination of thong-wearing sunbathers and a brutal rip current generated by a hurricane off Baja California has made the days anything but lazy for lifeguards.

Keeping a constant vigil, the crew of mostly young men who man the lifeguard towers dashed into the heavy surf in a seemingly unending tide of rescues and warnings to bathers who found themselves swept hundreds of yards in seconds by the rip currents.

“The (current) makes it tougher because you’re going out more,” said Brad Valentine, 20, a Cal State Fullerton student who was manning a lifeguard tower about 200 yards from the Huntington Beach pier. “You’re running and swimming all the time. With conditions like this, it’s a lot more stressful.”

For Valentine and his fellow lifeguards, there appears to be little hope for relief in sight. The heat and humidity, along with the sweeping storm-fueled currents, should last for a least a few more days, which means bigger weekend crowds and more unwary swimmers to be wary of.

Meteorologists said a high-pressure system stalled over the southwestern United States and Hurricane Genevieve, raging about 400 miles southwest of Baja, are responsible for the double whammy.

The high-pressure system trapped not only the unusually moist air but also a higher concentration of pollutants, causing smog readings to approach the unhealthful range in inland areas, according to South Coast Air Quality Management District figures.

Inland temperatures reached the low 90s Friday, while the humidity hovered around 60% during the day and was expected to rise to a soggy 85% at night in parts of the county. Beach cities were just about as uncomfortably humid as the inland areas, but temperatures in the mid 70s sent about 50,000 people to the Huntington Beach shores.

While cool, offshore breezes ranging up to 15 m.p.h. brought welcome relief for beach-goers, they posed an often hair-raising problem for lifeguards. Lt. Steve Davidson of the Huntington Beach lifeguard station said lifeguards made about 70 rescues Thursday, compared to 10 to 15 on “a quiet summer day.” At Huntington City Beach, lifeguards reported 39 rescues Friday.

“Our surf picks up because of tropical storms and hurricanes,” Davidson said. “When the wind is blowing at a high velocity, sometimes we get swells from four or five miles away. Then we get a real strong current because the waves hit at an angle, not head on, so people drift down the beach.”

Amy Dwyer, 17, and Sagi Mesa, 15, a pair of beach-goers from Huntington Beach, said they were swept several hundred yards in a matter of minutes by the strong sideways current.

“You have no control, you keep trying to get your feet down,” Mesa said. “But it’s fun.”

Dwyer and Mesa also said that while the surf was treacherous, they did not feel scared because they heeded announcements over a lifeguard tower loudspeaker warning swimmers of strong currents.

Lifeguard Valentine, who swam out to warn nearly a dozen swimmers of the rough tide and made three rescues in less than four hours, said that many bathers, while aware that the current was strong, were not aware that the waves and current could send them crashing into the the pier’s heavy wooden pilings.

“Usually people are glad to see you when you get out there. Just about everybody’s worst fear is kissing the pier.”

Fear of the pier prompted lifeguard station officials to post three lifeguards at Tower 1, just a few feet from the closed pier. By early afternoon, guards Steve Addleman, 19, Greg Reddish, 17, and Mike Yakura, 17, had plunged after tired or errant swimmers about 50 times, at times returning to their post for less than a minute before spotting another floundering bather.

“We’ve been wet all day,” Addleman said.

Times researchers Danny Sullivan and Elena Brunet contributed to this report.