Man spends 3 hours without lifejacket treading water in Lake Tahoe before being rescued
Submitted by Jeff Munson on Tue, 08/02/2022 - 8:53am
A 19-year-old man was pulled from Lake Tahoe Friday night after spending around three hours treading water before being rescued.
At 8:17 p.m. on Friday, July 29, South Lake Tahoe Fire Rescue was called by the manager of Timber Cove Marina to assist with a water rescue on the lake. Tahoe Douglas Fire boat crews were also called to assist along with the El Dorado County Sheriff's Office.
From first responder's reports, the 19-year-old is employed by the marina and went out with other staff to help with a disabled boat. He stayed in the rented boat as it was pulled by another back toward the marina from an area northwest of Zephyr Cove.
For reasons not in those reports, the young man fell into the lake and was not discovered missing until the lead boat made it back to the marina.
A search began with all rescue boats on the lake along with a helicopter. The boats covered a grid from Cave Rock to South Lake Tahoe. El Dorado County Sheriff's Dispatch was able to "ping" the missing man's cellphone, giving them a rough starting point.
Tahoe Douglas Fire's Marine 24 cut their engines between 1-2 miles west of Zephyr Cove and called out. They heard a yell for help from about 1,000 yards east of their point and proceeded slowly as they made their way to the source of the help call.
They saw the missing man treading water and pulled him into their boat, and that he was "a and o," awake and oriented, said Eric Guevin, Tahoe Douglas fire marshal. He said since the man was not wearing a lifejacket or other floatation device, he was exhausted from a few hours of treading water.
His body core temperature was a little low so they warmed him up as they made their way to Zephyr Cove Marina for transport to Barton at 10:11 p.m. Guevin said he was discharged the same night.
"It was great teamwork," said South Lake Tahoe Fire Rescue Battallion Chief Jay Manning said of the multiple agencies involved. He said the South Shore rescue boats were restaffed as onboard staff had already gone home for the day.
Calls have been unreturned at this time by Timber Cove Marina and the US Coast Guard. This story will be updated if any new details are released.
