3 Killed, 1 Injured When Boats Collide on Crowded River

Two power boats, including one carrying five people from Ventura, collided on the Kings River near Visalia over the weekend, killing three members of a San Fernando Valley family and seriously injuring the driver of the Ventura boat.

The Venturan injured in the fiery collision, Mark Anthony Nichols, 33, had been boating with his wife, Lori, and about 20 friends. The group had met regularly for boating at the river, which is 3 1/2 hours by car from Ventura.

Nichols’ boat apparently was cut off by another one on the crowded river, Tulare County sheriff’s deputies said.

All three people in the second craft were killed outright. Authorities identified them as Frederick and Lynn Guillette and their daughter, Nicole, 20 months, of Canoga Park.

Nichols underwent surgery for a ruptured spleen at Valley Medical Center in Fresno. He was in stable condition Monday. Two others from Ventura, identified as Brian Wallet and Mike Dietrich, were released after treatment for minor injuries.

Sheriff’s Lt. Dave Williams said Monday that the accident was still under investigation but that it appeared that Lynn Guillette, 30, who was driving her boat, had strayed onto the side of the river used by southbound boaters. Both craft in the collision were 12 to 15 feet long with low-profile, fiberglass hulls. Neither was towing a skier.

“Every indication is that Nichols was operating in compliance with all regulations,” Williams said. “It is unknown what the other driver was doing or thinking. It looks like they both tried to divert but couldn’t.”

Williams said it was unknown how fast the boats were going. They have top speeds of more than 40 m.p.h. Nichols’ boat flew over the top of the Guillettes’, which burst into flames.

Sherry Maltman, whose husband, Craig, was on the Ventura boat, said she was riding about 100 yards behind it on an independently powered Jet-Ski when “I saw this big explosion, and I saw this boat go up in the air and I thought my husband was dead. It was like Vietnam. I was crying before I got there. . . . I couldn’t believe all our guys survived it.

“The other boat was completely on fire, like a bomb had blown it apart.”

A boater who saw the accident put out the fire by using his engine to spray water onto it.

Craig Maltman said Dietrich and the fifth passenger, Peter Fliss, tried unsuccessfully to revive the injured family.

Nichols’ wife, Lori, said in a telephone interview from her husband’s hospital room that her husband has been boating on the river for several years.

“It’s a dangerous river, but he knows it very well,” said Lori Nichols, who was ashore when the accident happened. “Mark did everything he could to avoid it. He was as far right as he could go. She was supposed to be to the left. He did everything he could. They would have hit the shore if they hadn’t hit him.”

The collision startled golfers and workers at the Kings River Golf and Country Club where the 17th hole runs next to the river. Country club employee Jeff Avey told the Associated Press that he was watering a green when he heard the accident.

“I heard one boat gun its engine, like it was turning or taking off real fast,” Avey said. “Then, within 10 seconds, there was a loud bang and then complete silence.”

Avey said he ran toward the river with his hose, hoping to help put out the flames that poured from one of the boats. “I was yelling, asking if anyone needed help,” he said. “No one answered.”

Frederick Guillette, 31, was a service manager for a Nissan dealership. Lynn Guillette was a buyer for J. C. Penney.

Frederick’s father, Frederick Guillette Sr. said Frederick and his brother Todd, 27, had both taken their families boating for the week. They were packed up and ready to head back to Los Angeles when they decided to use up the remaining gasoline, a safety measure, he said.

“They were all ready to go home, but the baby had been fussing that she wanted a Popsicle,” Guillette Sr. said. “So they decided to take a run to use up the gas and get Nicole a Popsicle. When they were going, they got broadsided.”

Todd Guillette had taken his boat the opposite way on the river, his father said. When he came back, he saw his brother’s boat burning and sinking and the efforts being made by bystanders to rescue the family.

“He came upon the accident and saw all the smoke and recognized his brother’s boat,” Guillette Sr. said. “He and his brother were very close. He has really taken it hard.”

The couple were married four years ago at the Santa Ynez Mission, near where Lynn Guillette grew up in Santa Barbara. They and Nicole are to be buried Wednesday in the mission cemetery.