HEMET: Two men, including 85-year-old, rescued from DVL after boat capsizes
Emergency first responders had to use the north dam to access the victims from the water. Robert Carter/Public Safety Incidents photo
HEMET – Two people were rescued from Diamond Valley Lake in Hemet after their boat capsized, dumping both men in the water Sunday, Nov. 20.
According to a fire official at the scene, one of the victims was an 85-year-old man who was left clinging to some rocks in the frigid water.
Temperature at the lake was listed at 59 degrees at the time the emergency was reported. It was not known exactly how cold the water itself was.
Deputies from Riverside County Sheriff’s Hemet/Valle Vista Station; firefighters, paramedics, and a water rescue team from Cal Fire/Riverside County Fire Department; AMR medics; and California State Parks rangers rushed to the lake after the accident was reported at 3:17 p.m. They were assisted by the Riverside County Sheriff’s Aviation Unit, which flew to the lake to assist in searching for the elderly victim and his son.
Firefighters climb back up from the lake shore with the elderly victim. Robert Carter/Public Safety Incidents photo
The person who called 911 reported two men had gone into the water after their boat flipped over on the lake.
One of the men managed to flag down the 911 caller and advised her that his 85-year-old father was still in the water clinging to rocks and could not get out of the water on his own.
The first official to arrive at the lake was a sheriff’s deputy who arrived minutes after the call was dispatched.
After searching the area, the deputy was able to locate both victims between two long and steep sets of steps near the north side of the lake.
Other emergency first responders began arriving shortly afterwards and began to provide medical attention to the two victims who were unable to walk or help themselves after spending an unknown amount of time in the frigid water.
Nearly two dozen first responders rushed to the scene of the boating accident. Robert Carter/Public Safety Incidents photo
According to an official at the scene, both men were suffering from hypothermia. One of the two men reportedly had an oxygen tank that was lost when the boat capsized and needed oxygen while being treated.
Firefighter/paramedics treated both men at the scene, using thermal blankets to warm them. AMR medics then transported one of the two men by ground ambulance to an area hospital for further evaluation and treatment. His current condition was not available.
It was not immediately known what caused the boat to capsize or if the boat was recovered or if it sank.
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This is a developing story. Updates will be provided as they become available.
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Trevor Montgomery spent 10 years in the U.S. Army as an Orthopedic Specialist before joining the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department in 1998. He was medically retired after losing his leg in an off-duty accident.
During his time with the sheriff’s department, Trevor worked at several different stations, including the Robert Presley Detention Center, the Southwest Station in Temecula, the Hemet Station, and the Lake Elsinore Station, along with many other locations.
Trevor’s assignments included Corrections, Patrol, DUI Enforcement, Boat and Personal Water-Craft based Lake Patrol, Off-Road Vehicle Enforcement, Problem Oriented Policing Team, Personnel and Background Investigations and he finished his career while working as a Sex Crimes and Child Abuse Investigator.
Trevor has been married for more than 26 years and was a foster parent to more than 60 children over 13 years. He is now an adoptive parent and has 13 children and 12 – soon to be 13 – grandchildren.
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Can’t find it on this page, buy will watch for it in future
I thought DVL was closed to any boats and fishermen. I went by about a month ago and it had a locked gate going into the Lake.