Iceaxe
07-24-2011, 01:16 PM
By Mark Havnes - The Salt Lake Tribune
A popular swimming area on the Fremont River in Capitol Reef National Park has been closed after three near drownings since June.
Scott Brown, chief ranger in the Wayne County park, said Friday that a section of river known as Fremont waterfall was closed to swimming on July 16 and will remained closed during the season after a 12-year-old California girl and a 32-year-old Logan man nearly drowned on July 15. A 6-year-old Wisconsin boy was the first to nearly drown at the same location on June 20.
The parking lot at the popular site has been closed and signs warning visitors not to swim have been posted until temperatures drop, making swimming impractical.
Brown said the 6-year-old, Cody Grundstrom, was swimming in the pool created by a waterfall plunge and was sucked under the water.
Jay Torgersen, a fire captain with the Unified Fire Authority in Salt Lake County who is trained in swift-water rescues, and his wife, Tali, were able to get Cody out of the water and perform CPR.
"I tried to hang onto rocks, but the waterfall took me toward it," Cody told The Salt Lake Tribune in a June 21 interview from his hospital bed at Primary Children
A popular swimming area on the Fremont River in Capitol Reef National Park has been closed after three near drownings since June.
Scott Brown, chief ranger in the Wayne County park, said Friday that a section of river known as Fremont waterfall was closed to swimming on July 16 and will remained closed during the season after a 12-year-old California girl and a 32-year-old Logan man nearly drowned on July 15. A 6-year-old Wisconsin boy was the first to nearly drown at the same location on June 20.
The parking lot at the popular site has been closed and signs warning visitors not to swim have been posted until temperatures drop, making swimming impractical.
Brown said the 6-year-old, Cody Grundstrom, was swimming in the pool created by a waterfall plunge and was sucked under the water.
Jay Torgersen, a fire captain with the Unified Fire Authority in Salt Lake County who is trained in swift-water rescues, and his wife, Tali, were able to get Cody out of the water and perform CPR.
"I tried to hang onto rocks, but the waterfall took me toward it," Cody told The Salt Lake Tribune in a June 21 interview from his hospital bed at Primary Children