Sand’s Shifty Nature Merits Caution

One day after a teenager was critically injured jumping into a 7-foot pit he had dug at Bolsa Chica State Beach, lifeguards cautioned that digging big holes on the beach poses a real danger.

The teenager, visiting from Indiana, dug a pit into a steep berm, creating what looked like a cave. When he jumped inside, however, the wet sand above collapsed, trapping the boy for five minutes.

Officials said the incident provides a sad but important lesson about nature--and the potential hazards of sand at the beach.

“Ultimately, the nature of sand is that you can pick it up and if you throw it, it just floats away in the wind,” said Gus Avila, a lifeguard supervisor on the scene Friday evening after the collapse. “Even when it is wet, if you don’t understand the mechanics of sand, it can erode away little by little pretty quickly.”

As beachgoers flocked to the sand by the thousands on a hot Saturday over Father’s Day weekend, lifeguards said people must use good judgment.

“You get into a sense that you know what’s best,” said Ormand Tegland, a lifeguard for two decades who works in Laguna Beach. “No matter what, people dig holes all the time--not 7 feet deep maybe--and there’s not much you can do about it. It really is common-sense deficit.”

Laguna Beach has tried to crack down.

Last summer, the Laguna Beach City Council banned digging holes deeper than 2 feet. The council also banned: leaving shallow holes unfilled; removing sand; playing sports that involve throwing balls, flying discs and other objects that could do harm; and swimming or diving in conditions lifeguards consider hazardous.

One lifeguard, who asked not to be named, said that the ban doesn’t have much bite and that things haven’t changed much. He said that people still bring balls to the beach, and that it is “common for people to get caught in 2- or 3-foot-deep holes.”

The ineffectiveness of the ban is partly why Avila guesses many cities have not passed ordinances as strict as Laguna Beach’s.

“People really need to exercise diligence when it comes to how they behave at the beach,” he said.

Authorities said the Indiana teenager had been warned by at least one friend or relative to be careful. When he was rescued, he was found sitting at the bottom of the pit, breathing but unconscious.

Lifeguards offered these beach safety tips Saturday:

* Set up near a lifeguard tower. Talk to officials if you have questions about weather conditions, which can change in minutes.

* Be realistic about your abilities to swim and exercise.

* Be mindful of other people.

* Mind your umbrellas.

* Don’t drink alcohol.

* Don’t build fires.