Lifeguard Who Rescued 2 Says County Beach Is Unsafe

A veteran state lifeguard on Friday said the county is failing its “moral obligation” to make a heavily used beach safe for public use.

James P. Harmon, who rescued two people at the beach during his lunch hour Wednesday, said the county-run Emma Wood State Beach two miles north of Ventura is hazardous because no lifeguards patrol it.

“I feel that the county has at least a moral obligation to maintain a minimum level of safety services at park and beach properties that they operate,” Harmon said. “The only way to make areas safe for swimming is to provide trained personnel.”

But officials from the county, which took over running the beach from the state in 1983, said they know of no drownings there and do not believe that the area poses dangers.

“If historically it had been a problem, we would have tried to find funding for lifeguards,” said Andy Oshita, Ventura County parks manager. “Emma Wood never was a problem.”

Yet, Oshita said that in response to Harmon’s complaint, county officials will walk the beach and a 120-trailer camping area this weekend, asking people if they have experienced dangerous riptides or currents.

The criticism that there are too few lifeguards is a perennial complaint in a county with 42 miles of coastline.

In June, lifeguards stationed at Marina Cove Beach in Ventura Harbor complained that they were weary of risking their lives in last-minute rescue efforts at the nearby unpatrolled south jetty beach.

Despite posted signs warning swimmers of hazardous currents, lifeguards make at least 100 rescues a year there, sometimes placing their lives at risk because the calls for help come so late. Lifeguards maintain that 99% of the problems could be prevented if the beach had its own patrols.

But state, city and port officials disagree, saying that offering lifeguard services would send a false message that the turbulent waters are safe for swimmers. They prefer to rely on signs that read: “Warning: Hazardous Riptides, No Lifeguards on Duty.”

Indeed, the lack of lifeguards is an issue up and down the state coastline, said Steve Treanor, superintendent of the state Department of Parks and Recreation’s Channel Coast District, which extends from McGrath State Beach in Oxnard to Carpinteria State Beach.

“There are beaches throughout the state that don’t have lifeguard service,” Treanor said. “What we say is that people should swim at lifeguarded beaches--that’s the choice they have.”

Harmon, a Ventura lawyer who is a part-time state lifeguard, said the situation at Emma Wood State Beach has bothered him for a long time.

When Harmon, 33, first began lifeguarding in 1974, Emma Wood was run by the state and patrolled in the summer by lifeguards. At one point, Harmon said he was stationed as a lifeguard on the beach.

Sometime about 1983, lifeguards were removed from the beach. Officials are unclear whether it was a state or county decision.

Harmon said the dangers of the unpatrolled area struck him again Wednesday when he was visiting the beach on his lunch hour and spotted an 8-year-old girl caught in a rip current.

He said it quickly became obvious that the girl, while a strong swimmer, was in serious trouble. The father of the girl’s friend swam out to help her but also began experiencing difficulty, Harmon said.

“He was huffing and puffing and she was hanging onto his neck,” Harmon said. “The little girl was pretty panicky.”

Harmon changed into his swim trunks, took his fins and lifeguard rescue tube from his car and swam to them. He pulled both of them to safety.

“It was purely a stroke of good fortune that I happened to be there at that time and was able to prevent a potential double drowning,” Harmon said in a letter to county officials. “The crowd and conditions yesterday certainly warranted having a lifeguard on duty.”