Crash Kills Family on Impromptu Boat Run

Frederick and Lynn Guillette were packed and ready to head home to Canoga Park after a week of boating and skiing on the Kings River near Visalia.

But when their 20-month-old daughter, Nicole, said she wanted ice cream, the couple decided to take their ski boat out on the river one last time--to burn off the remaining gasoline in the boat’s tanks and go to a store up the river for ice cream.

The Guillettes’ impromptu decision, however, ended in disaster Saturday when their boat apparently cut in front of another ski boat on the crowded river, according to Tulare County sheriff’s deputies. The Guillettes’ northbound boat was hit broadside and Frederick, 31, Lynn, 30, and Nicole were killed instantly.

The other boat contained five people from Ventura, and three of them were injured. The driver, Mark Anthony Nichols, 33, remained Monday at Valley Medical Center in Fresno where he had undergone surgery for a ruptured spleen. 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 it appeared that Lynn Guillette, 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.”

Investigators have found no indication that alcohol was involved in the accident. Williams said it was unknown how fast the boats, which can reach 40-plus m.p.h., were going, but Nichols’ boat hit the other and went completely over top of it. The Guillettes’ boat burst into flames.

The operator of another boat who saw the accident maneuvered his craft around, reversed the jet drive on the engine and sent a spray of water into the burning craft, extinguishing the blaze.

Nichols’ wife, Lori, said in an interview from her husband’s hospital room that after the accident several of her husband’s passengers tried to perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation on the victims, but it was too late.

Lori Nichols was not on the boat and said her husband could not be interviewed. But she said her husband has been boating on the river for several years. “It’s a dangerous river, but he knows it very well,” she said.

“Mark did everything he could to avoid it,” she said. “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.”

Sherry Maltman, wife of Craig Maltman who was a passenger on Nichols’ boat, said she was riding about 100 yards behind the Nichols’ boat on a 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,” Maltman said.

The impact of the colliding boats 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 grew up in Canoga Park and lived with his wife and young daughter just five blocks from his parents’ home. He was a service manager for a Nissan dealership and Lynn Guillette was a buyer for J.C. Penney.

His father, Frederick Guillette Sr., said his son was an avid water and jet skier and went to the Kings River recreation area once or twice a year with his family. Last week, he went there with his 27-year-old brother Todd and his wife, Tracy, who also own a ski boat.

The older Guillette said his two sons and their families were packed up and ready to head back to Los Angeles on Saturday when they decided to take their boats out one last time to burn off remaining gasoline, a safety precaution for towing the boats home, and get ice cream.

“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.”

Guillette Jr. and his wife were married four years ago at the Santa Ynez Mission, near where Lynn Guillette grew up in Santa Barbara. The couple and their child are scheduled to be buried Wednesday at the cemetery next to the mission.