LITTLETON, Colo. — Colorado Parks and Wildlife is gearing up for a busy Fourth of July holiday weekend while urging caution to Coloradans hitting the water.
Thursday night, eight people had to be rescued from Chatfield Reservoir after strong winds moved into the area.
It’s the latest series of rescues in a busy June for the department.
“We’re seeing about the same number of rescues that we would see in a summer right now through the end of June,” said CPW spokesperson Kara Van Hoose. “We’re seeing people not wear their life jackets, go out by themselves, not know the weather forecast, things that are really preventable.”
At least two people have died at Chatfield Reservoir already this year, and Van Hoose said there are concerns that statewide numbers could grow .
“We’re really concerned with the number of water recreation deaths we’ve seen so far this year,” she said. “We’re approaching 20, and to hit that number before July 4th is really alarming.”
She says hot temperatures and strong winds have created a perfect storm for problems, with multiple paddleboarders becoming stranded on the lake or thrown from boards.
“When you're paddleboarding or kayaking, it doesn’t really take a lot of wind to knock you off, so people aren’t expecting that to come through, and if you’re not wearing your life jacket, you go in the water, you get blown away from your board or kayak, you’re not getting back to that, so that’s triggering a lot of rescues,” said Van Hoose.
CPW is urging people to wear life jackets at all times when using boats of any kind, and to check the forecast before heading onto the water.
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