Abalone diver fatality - California

[DandyDon]

Sounds like a heroic rescue attempt...

Abalone dive turns fatal - Mendocino Beacon

Submitted by MVFD Capt. Sally Swan
Editor's note: The coroner's office identified the victim as David Alan Longmore, 53, of Upper Lake.

A day of sport in the ocean turned into a tragic event for a visitor who died while diving for abalone off of Brewery Gulch in Mendocino on Saturday, May 31.
The Mendocino Fire Department and Mendocino Coast District Hospital medics were dispatched at 9:25 Saturday morning for a "water rescue" involving a "diver in the water." Mendocino Fire responded with jet skis and rescue trucks, and the hospital sent two ambulances.
Mendocino Fire's jet skis launched off of Big River Beach. Firefighters David Casey, John Paul McMillan, Charlie Robbins and Asst. Chief Duncan Rasmussen drove and rode the skis.
Passing through the channel at Big River was a challenge due to low tide, but firefighters train in these conditions and they successfully navigated north in the mouth of the river to pass through the surf zone and swiftly respond to the scene on the southern rim of Mendocino Bay.
From the cliffs above the ocean, onlookers could see a man swimming to shore while dragging another man who appeared lifeless. The swimmer made it to the rocky shore with the motionless victim.
The first people to reach the swimmer and the victim were Joaquin Jones, a captain with Mendocino Fire and an EMT on Mendocino Coast District Hospital's ambulance, and Sayre Statham, a firefighter with Mendocino Fire.
Jones and Statham traversed down the steep cliff with rescue gear in hand. Soon other EMTs from Mendocino Fire arrived along with the firefighters on jet skis to assist and assess the victim, who was pronounced dead at the scene.
Mendocino Fire Chief Ed O'Brien reported that the response from the fire department and the ambulance service went smoothly.
O'Brien reminds the public that "the ocean is powerful and unpredictable. Cold water, large waves and sudden drop-offs can suddenly turn a fun day into an emergency. Always use caution in and around the water."
The Mendocino Volunteer Fire Department trains on water rescues each month. You might see their jet skis and rescue boats in Big River and at local beaches as they practice skills in the surf zone and open water. Some of the firefighters are certified swift water rescuers and some are certified scuba rescue divers.

 

[Bob DBF]

That would be the Mendocino Volunteer Fire Department.

Mendocino Volunteer Fire Department Rescue



Bob
-------------------------------
I may be old, but I’m not dead yet.

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

Damn, another one.
This looks like it's going to be a bad year.

 

[Chuck Tribolet]

Damn, another one.
This looks like it's going to be a bad year.

This was back on May 31.

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

This was back on May 31.

I missed that, thanks for pointing it out.