Shasta Lake, Calif. (KHSL/CNN Newsource) – Just days apart, two children have died on the same California lake.
That has boating experts and families paying extra attention safety on the water.
The Lee family is ready to start their week on a rented houseboat from holiday harbor.
They’ve done this a few times, but they still have to go through the company’s mandatory orientation.
“Safety is one of the most important things for our customers while they’re out on the lake,” Holiday Harbor’s orientations director Randy Corbin said. “We want to ensure that all that precious cargo makes it back in.”
Unfortunately, this past weekend some precious cargo did not make it back.
The Shasta County Sheriff’s Office says on Saturday morning 7-year-old Julian Zamora was on a house boat with his family from Salinas.
They say while out of sight from the rest of the family, he went overboard and died.
They also say he was not wearing a life jacket, and was not required to since the boat was not moving.
This comes just days after 12-year-old Auston Strole also died in a boating accident on a different part of the lake.
Mandy Pagh said she takes steps to ensure such a tragedy won’t strike her family. “life jacket all the time, whether he wants to wear it or not, whether the boat’s moving or not.”
And beside life jackets, staff and visitors here say it’s important to be aware of your surroundings, know where everyone is– and communication is key.
Andrew Wallner said, “We had four walkie-talkies, one on the roof, one on the back one on the front and one at the captain’s chair so all the time we’re communicating about what’s going on.”
All this is why staff at Shasta Lake want vacationers to slow down and take a moment to understand the dangers before heading out on the water.
Corbin said, “Everybody’s excited to get out on the lake, we know that, but it is extremely important that they’re fully aware of how to make use of the boats while they’re out there.”
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