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Lake Piru, CA - Massive Search Continues For Man That Fell From Boat, Community Support Unprecedented. VIDEO. PHOTOS |
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Naftoli Smolyansky
Yesterday 3 shifts covered the entire day from dawn until nightfall, with professional divers from the Los Angeles County Fire Department and Coast Guard units who continued the search into the night using sonar equipment.
Yidden from as far away as Seattle and Denver have descended upon the area to help.
A dedicated group of women from the entire community continue to provide massive amounts of food to keep the volunteers going. All of the Los Angeles kosher stores and restaurants have been participating with making regular deliveries as well. Minyanim for Shachris, Mincha and Maariv are continuing at the scene. The Kedem wine company has donated a large amount of food.
See FOX news report on the story
Special preparations are being readied for Shabbos should the need arise. Although the window for a happy outcome is shrinking, the yiddish spirit of not giving up is strong. Tehillim for Naftoli Ben Anna is still needed. Naftoli's dear wife and kinderlach deserve no less.
A team of professional frum divers from NY is scheduled to be arriving today to join the effort.
The outpouring of support and chesed is greatly reminiscent of the Suri Feldman rescue back in the early 90's. Askanim have been successful in cutting a lot of the red tape that initially impeded the rescue efforts, namely the condescending attitude of the Ventura County Sheriff's Department. It was the Ventura County Fire Department that took the lead and made a big difference.
This was due to the hands on leadership of LA County Board of Supervisor Zev Yaroslovsky, the Ventura County Board of Supervisors, LA County and Ventura County Fire Departments and Gov. Schwartzenegger's office. Hatzolah of LA continues being the lead coordinator for all the volunteers.
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Read Comments (19) — Post Yours »
1
Aug 28, 2008 at 11:15 AM keep smiling Says:
EVERYONE CONTINUE ALL YOR GR8 WORK MAY WE ONLY SHARE GOOD NEWS TOGETHER
2
Aug 28, 2008 at 11:34 AM Anonymous Says:
Are they still needing divers to assist?? please provide contact info
3
Aug 28, 2008 at 11:41 AM Anonymous Says:
Mi Keamcha Yisroel. How we feel for one another. what a kiddush hashem. B'zchus this, please hashem help us have a happy ending to this story. His wife and children need a yeshuah. Everyone keep davening.
Hashem Yeracheim.
4
Aug 28, 2008 at 11:42 AM Anonymous Says:
may they find naftoli bekorov
reb isaak leider from zaka is seen in some of the photos he unfortunatly has the experience as he was heavily involved in the montreal story 2 years ago and has extensive experience with search/recovery may the oibishter reward the volunteers tremendous kiddush hashem by helping return naftoli to his family
5
Aug 28, 2008 at 12:08 PM Anonymous Says:
Unfortunately, this lake has a history of drownings
Its choppy waters and murky waters make this lake more dangerous than other lakes and makes it more difficult to find someone.
Lake Piru’s Tragic Toll
By Gail Davis
September 07, 2000 in print edition B-1
The skies were sunny and the winds calm at Lake Piru when Eric Cruz decided to swim the short distance to his stalled radio-controlled model boat.
But the inexperienced swimmer struggled just short of the boat and panicked, witnesses said, pushing away his boogie board. Divers retrieved his body an hour later.
The 25-year-old Van Nuys resident had drowned only 10 feet from shore.
Cruz, whose body was found on the floor of the lake Tuesday afternoon, was the seventh person to drown in Lake Piru since 1994.
In August of that year, 27-year-old Jesus Danilo Carranza of North Hollywood drowned while on an outing with his family, even though he was wearing a life jacket.
In July 1997, Liborio Dominguez of Long Beach drowned while trying to rescue his young daughter. The girl was saved, but Dominguez’s body was not discovered until several days later.
On Sept. 30, 1997, rescue workers recovered the body of 30-year-old Port Hueneme resident Ulises Anthony Mendoza, who was last seen struggling days earlier while swimming with family members near their boat.
In February 1998, Lake Piru employee Arthur Raymond Caladara was found drowned near a dock. The details of his death are unknown.
And in June, the body of 30-year-old Vy Xuan Dang of Garden Grove, who disappeared while swimming with his family during the Memorial Day weekend, was found by a park ranger.
Douglas West, Lake Piru’s parks and recreation services manager, said there have been about a dozen drownings during his 23 years at the lake. Most victims are inexperienced swimmers who are not wearing life jackets and who overestimate their own abilities or swim in prohibited areas.
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A poor swimmer or nonswimmer making a decision to wade in or jump off a boat–even in an attempt to save someone else–baffles West and other park officials.
“We don’t understand why someone would jump out of a boat into the water if they didn’t know how to swim,” West said.
Sheriff’s spokesman Eric Nishimoto said currents on the lake were strong Tuesday. And after a 1997 drowning, park officials speculated that wind gusts and deep columns of chilly water on the lake, which is up to 160 feet deep depending on the time of year, can overtake swimmers quickly.
“I know it can get rough out there,” Nishimoto said.
But West said conditions on the 1,200-acre reservoir are no different than at similar lakes, and Piru’s statistics for drownings are slightly lower than those of Pyramid Lake and Castaic Lake, which have comparable use. Rangers alert boat operators when conditions are bad, he said.
Most drowning victims were swimmers venturing into restricted waters, he said.
Staff at the lake, including rangers and lifeguards, fluctuates from 10 to more than 30, depending on the season, West said. Lifeguards are on duty at the lake’s designated swimming beach on weekends, busy days and most of the summer.
But no lifeguards were on duty Tuesday because the Labor Day holiday crowd had departed and only about 20 visitors were at the lake, he said.
On slow days, the park’s rangers, all trained as lifeguards and emergency medical technicians, try to spot swimmers in trouble. But on Tuesday, Cruz was too far from anyone else, in an area marked as off-limits to swimming.
*
After a drowning, park officials meet to discuss the situation and determine what can be done to improve their response.
On Wednesday, they came to the conclusion that Cruz’s drowning could have been prevented if he had worn a life jacket or other flotation device.
West cautioned that the lake’s swimming beach is clearly marked and other parts of the lake are posted off-limits to swimming for grim reasons.
“The only thing I can emphasize is that if swimmers are around water, they need to wear a personal flotation device whether they know how to swim or not,” he said. “That will save their lives.”
6
Aug 28, 2008 at 12:23 PM keep smiling Says:
please dont post sad endings let us just all continue to daven that the ending should be happy!! Lets have some felling for the family.
7
Aug 28, 2008 at 01:20 PM Anonymous Says:
I don't mean to blame anyone.
The point you can learn from this is that before going somewhere it would be smart to check the history of the place to find out if it is safe and if there are any risks. History tends to repeat itself.
8
Aug 28, 2008 at 01:46 PM Anonymous Says:
Additionally, Hatzolah is currently looking for as many volunteers as possible for the search on Thursday. Please email lakepirurescue@gmail.com ONLY if you are available to search on Thursday. Do NOT email for ANY other reason!
9
Aug 28, 2008 at 03:19 PM oy vey! Says:
mi keamchu yisroel!!!! you see to what lengths a yid will go to help another yid... just for this alone we should have naftoli back safe home with his family gezinterheit.
“We don’t understand why someone would jump out of a boat into the water if they didn’t know how to swim,” West said.
i am disgusted from this comment why did he jump in " because HE WANTED TO SAVE HIS CHILD THATS WHY" is that not a good enough reason????????
but hashem should help we should see moshiach very very soon in our days tzi fill tzurus we cant take it no more....
10
Aug 28, 2008 at 04:09 PM Anonymous Says:
Check under the boat
11
Aug 28, 2008 at 04:50 PM Anonymous Says:
Are there still no updates???? May Hashem help!!!!!!!!!
12
Aug 28, 2008 at 04:54 PM Anonymous Says:
THE DOG HAS LED THE DIVERS TO A CERTAIN AREA THIS MORNING AND DIVERS ARE INTENSLY WORKING OVER THAT AREA HOPEFULLY BEZH HE WILL BE LOCATED SHORTLY
13
Aug 28, 2008 at 05:07 PM Anonymous Says:
i was one of the people at the search and the kidish hashem that is going on there is unbelievable we should only hear simchos
14
Aug 28, 2008 at 07:30 PM Anonymous Says:
I have never been more proud, then this week to be from Los Angeles !!! I have been in every community across the states ...there is chesed here that goes way beyond the call of duty...Thank-You Tzvika Brenner !!!! L.A. would not be the same without you>>>you created Hatzolah...here in L.A. ..What vision you had.....where once a short while ago we had no frum venues for the frum community...wether it was an emergency situation or some one with a medical crisis...thank-you Heshy Ten....We are a community that stands tall in "Hollywood"
15
Aug 30, 2008 at 11:27 PM Shaindy Cohen Says:
My thoughts and tefilos are with you and your family and we should hear besuros tovos vkarov.
16
Aug 31, 2008 at 12:34 PM Anonymous Says:
This man was such a kind man who lived for his family. I am his neighbor. I said hello to to him every morning as I left to work. This seems so surreal. His children are so beautiful. I will continue to pray for his wife and children.
17
Aug 31, 2008 at 09:29 PM Anonymous Says:
Is the serch going on Sunday ? any news ?
18
Sep 01, 2008 at 07:05 AM michele Says:
to oy vey, try reading a little more closely before you post so emphatically. The quote that bothered you so much was from an article written in September 2000. Mr. West was not discussing the current tragedy or Naftoli's descision, rather he was talking about non swimmers in general jumping off of a boat to save someone.
19
Sep 01, 2008 at 08:08 PM Anonymous Says:
Boruch Dayan Emes