BOULDER COUNTY, Colo. — The annual Tube to Work Day is moving forward after organizers have been monitoring water flows in Boulder Creek each day this week.
"It wasn't until last Friday when the flows started to dip and the forecast was dry all week that I had a final walk-through with the city that said, OK, we’re in the zone. Things are looking good," said Lance Panigutty, one of the organizers.
The event will go on despite a woman dying after falling in Boulder Creek this week.
Boulder police said just after 4 a.m. Wednesday, a woman who was camping on the creek fell in the water and died. She has been identified as Candance Weber, 46.
Weber's death is at least the third in Boulder Creek this summer. On June 11, 9-year-old Romeo Alvarez drowned after falling off his tube into the creek. On June 15, 48-year-old Bibiana Mendiola Bocanegra entered the water to help a family member and was swept away by the current. Witnesses pulled her to the side of the creek and administered CPR, but she died at the hospital, police said.
"I do know that sadly all those deaths don’t require the safety gear that we enforce," Panigutty said.
Tube to Work day participants are required to have a life jacket, helmet and closed-toed shoes.
"We also inspect their tube to make sure it’s not some super flimsy Walmart tube, that it’s actually safe for tubing," he said.
Colorado Parks and Wildlife said in the last week, water flows across the state have decreased.
Boulder Police and Fire will be on standby for the event, as they have been in years past.
"We’ll have two ambulances out there, the Boulder Dive Team from the fire department will be out there," Panigutty said. "And then we actually have a paramedic and EMT crew on bicycles in zone coverage roaming the creek path."
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