Fresno County urges water safety after toddler near-drowning at Millerton Lake

Family members pulled a toddler from Millerton Lake before noon Saturday and Fresno County Fire crews were called to the scene after the child had already regained consciousness. The child was awake and breathing before helicopter transport to a hospital, a close call that county officials say should sharpen attention on water safety as lake season gets underway.

Officials said the toddler was not wearing a life jacket, a detail that turns a frightening rescue into a preventable warning for Fresno County families heading to the water this weekend. Video from Fresno Watersports captured the response at the lake, underscoring how quickly a routine outing can become a medical emergency when a very young child slips out of sight or into deeper water.

California law requires every child under 13 on a moving recreational vessel to wear a Coast Guard-approved life jacket. California State Parks says life jackets are the easiest way to reduce drowning risk and should be properly fitted for children, a point Fresno County health officials have been repeating for years as families head to reservoirs, rivers and backyard pools.

The county says drowning is the leading cause of preventable death in Fresno County for children under 5 and the second leading cause of death for people ages 15 to 44. County water safety materials also warn that many young children who drown at home have been out of sight for less than five minutes, a reminder that even brief lapses in supervision can turn deadly.

Fresno County has said the Water Safety Council estimates 20 to 30 people die from water-related injuries in the county each year, and about 10 of those victims on average are children ages 1 to 18. That toll has hit Millerton Lake as well: a 25-year-old man, Everardo Apantipan, died after being pulled from the lake in early May, and later reports said there had been eight drowning incidents there since 2021.

For Fresno County, the toddler rescue is both a relief and a warning. The child survived a near-drowning that could have ended far differently, but the conditions that led to the emergency, no life jacket, rapid submersion and a fast-moving rescue, are the same ones county officials are trying to keep from repeating at Millerton Lake and other waterways across the region.