Site search
sponsored by
News
Sports
ENLARGE
Nevada County Consolidated firefighter Phillip Nunnink, left, mans the underwater camera as Nevada County Sheriff's Deputy David Lade, center, watches the monitor and relays instructions to Cpl. Jeff Martin, right, using a snare to retrieve the body of Grant Alan Burton on May 20 in the South Yuba River.
A near-drowning in the South Yuba River over the weekend — on the heels of a river fatality a week before — serves as a chilling illustration of the dangers of the scenic waterway, even when flow is down to a trickle and swimming holes appear placid and inviting.
Saturday's accident involved a woman who dove toward the bottom of a pool while swimming. A drowning July 11 involved a Sacramento man who fell out of an innertube and whose foot became wedged between rocks.
“People don't see raging water (when the river is low), but there's still a lot of rapid movement below the surface,” said Nevada County Consolidated Fire Battalion Chief Spike Newby. “It can still trap you. You might just be a few inches below the surface and still drown.
“Take a swimming pool,” Newby said. “That's a controlled environment where the water doesn't move and you can see the bottom. Put that pool into a river environment, where all you can see is the surface. Your eye doesn't tell you how swift the water is moving toward the bottom.”
A swimmer's experience in one swimming hole won't be the same in the next hole down the river, because varying rock formations will create different water dangers, Newby added.
On Saturday, a 40-year-old woman narrowly escaped drowning even though river levels are at their summertime low levels.
Shannon Pombo allegedly swam to the bottom of a pool in the South Yuba upstream of the old Highway 49 bridge to pick up river rocks when she became trapped by the current underneath.
“She was trapped under the water head-first,” said State Parks Ranger Mike Smittle.
Her husband noticed she was in trouble, but was unable to free her, Smittle said. Several men who were gold-panning upstream heard him calling for help, and they helped pull her out.
Pombo apparently lost consciousness for a period and sustained several injuries. She was taken by helicopter to Sutter Roseville Medical Center and discharged the next day.
On July 11, Raymond Fowler, 41, of Sacramento drowned in the South Yuba River while tubing.
Fowler, who was not wearing a life preserver, died when he lost control of his innertube, fell into the water and was sucked under, where his foot became caught in rocks. His friends swam under the water and tried to free him, but the force of the current was too strong.
“The water is low, but people don't understand the force of the water,” Smittle said. “You have to be aware of what the water is doing.”
Currently, the water flow at Jones Bar is 47 to 49 cubic feet per second, compared to high-water levels of approximately 1,700 to 1,900 cubic feet per second. But even in an area where pools appear placid and there is no whitewater, down at the bottom of the river there are strong currents.
Fowler's death marked the fifth drowning in the county in three months.
On May 19, the South Yuba River claimed 57-year-old Grant Alan Burton in the same area that nearly claimed Pombo — though water was high at the time.
Burton allegedly had been drinking when he ventured too far out into the water and was swept underneath a rock just upstream from the old Highway 49 bridge.
Cheryl Ann Johnson, 51, of Newcastle, drowned in a tubing accident on the Bear River three days earlier after being thrown from the innertube and trapped in a rock formation underwater.
On April 19, Daniel Farris, 22, of Yuba City, died when he dove off a rock into a pool below Beale Falls in Spenceville Wildlife Area. Mollie Taplin, 31, of Nevada City, was found the same day, floating face down in the South Yuba River near Edwards Crossing.
To contact Staff Writer Liz Kellar, e-mail lkellar@theunion.com or call 477-4229.
Saturday's accident involved a woman who dove toward the bottom of a pool while swimming. A drowning July 11 involved a Sacramento man who fell out of an innertube and whose foot became wedged between rocks.
“People don't see raging water (when the river is low), but there's still a lot of rapid movement below the surface,” said Nevada County Consolidated Fire Battalion Chief Spike Newby. “It can still trap you. You might just be a few inches below the surface and still drown.
“Take a swimming pool,” Newby said. “That's a controlled environment where the water doesn't move and you can see the bottom. Put that pool into a river environment, where all you can see is the surface. Your eye doesn't tell you how swift the water is moving toward the bottom.”
A swimmer's experience in one swimming hole won't be the same in the next hole down the river, because varying rock formations will create different water dangers, Newby added.
On Saturday, a 40-year-old woman narrowly escaped drowning even though river levels are at their summertime low levels.
Shannon Pombo allegedly swam to the bottom of a pool in the South Yuba upstream of the old Highway 49 bridge to pick up river rocks when she became trapped by the current underneath.
“She was trapped under the water head-first,” said State Parks Ranger Mike Smittle.
Her husband noticed she was in trouble, but was unable to free her, Smittle said. Several men who were gold-panning upstream heard him calling for help, and they helped pull her out.
Pombo apparently lost consciousness for a period and sustained several injuries. She was taken by helicopter to Sutter Roseville Medical Center and discharged the next day.
On July 11, Raymond Fowler, 41, of Sacramento drowned in the South Yuba River while tubing.
Fowler, who was not wearing a life preserver, died when he lost control of his innertube, fell into the water and was sucked under, where his foot became caught in rocks. His friends swam under the water and tried to free him, but the force of the current was too strong.
“The water is low, but people don't understand the force of the water,” Smittle said. “You have to be aware of what the water is doing.”
Currently, the water flow at Jones Bar is 47 to 49 cubic feet per second, compared to high-water levels of approximately 1,700 to 1,900 cubic feet per second. But even in an area where pools appear placid and there is no whitewater, down at the bottom of the river there are strong currents.
Fowler's death marked the fifth drowning in the county in three months.
On May 19, the South Yuba River claimed 57-year-old Grant Alan Burton in the same area that nearly claimed Pombo — though water was high at the time.
Burton allegedly had been drinking when he ventured too far out into the water and was swept underneath a rock just upstream from the old Highway 49 bridge.
Cheryl Ann Johnson, 51, of Newcastle, drowned in a tubing accident on the Bear River three days earlier after being thrown from the innertube and trapped in a rock formation underwater.
On April 19, Daniel Farris, 22, of Yuba City, died when he dove off a rock into a pool below Beale Falls in Spenceville Wildlife Area. Mollie Taplin, 31, of Nevada City, was found the same day, floating face down in the South Yuba River near Edwards Crossing.
To contact Staff Writer Liz Kellar, e-mail lkellar@theunion.com or call 477-4229.
