To prevent drownings and encourage North Texans to practice water safety, the Grapevine Fire Department loans life jackets to Grapevine Lake park visitors.
Texas first responders spoke to NBC 5 on Tuesday about the importance of wearing life jackets while boating this summer.
Grapevine Fire Chief Darrell Brown explained that thunderstorms can cause boating accidents.
“It’s summertime in Texas, so it’s not uncommon for us to have these pop-up thunderstorms,” Brown said.
“We need to pay attention and know what’s going on because the wind can get quite fierce, very quickly” and can generate swells and waves that “get people in trouble quickly,” he warned.
Brown added that being aware of the weather at all times is critical, whether boating, kayaking, or swimming. According to Brown, waves caused by a storm can appear seemingly out of nowhere.
“Just make sure that you’re ready because when the waves do come up, they can go from being a nice calm day to a foot and a half to two-foot swells pretty quickly,” he said.
Along the shores of Grapevine Lake, the fire department has established six stations where people can borrow life jackets for free.
The service is offered in memory of Grapevine firefighter and paramedic James McKenzie, who drowned in the lake in 2016.
“In his honor, we provide these life vests for anybody who’s going to visit our parks because we want them to have a safe, fun day at the lake,” Brown told NBC 5.
According to the Grapevine Texas website, the loaner life jacket program is available from Memorial Day weekend to Labor Day weekend.
Grapevine Lake visitors who borrow a life jacket from one of the life jacket trees are encouraged to wear them while on, in, or near the water and return them before leaving the lake.
Local YMCA leaders encourage all Texans to wear life jackets when on any body of water this summer.
According to Samantha Buhler, the senior program director for YMCA of Metropolitan Dallas, the murky waters of lakes and rivers contribute to their danger.
“I think people don’t realize how murky lakes can get,” Buhler told NBC 5 in May. “With lakes and rivers and all that, you also have currents, so you just don’t know. Just because you go under in one spot doesn’t mean that’s the spot that that person’s in. Because the water is so murky, you’re not going to be able to locate that person, which is why the life jackets are so important for everybody.”
United States Coast Guard statistics show that in 2019, 79% of recreational boating deaths were caused by drowning. Of those who drowned, 86% were not wearing life jackets.
Texas state law requires children under 13 on vessels under 26 feet long to wear Coast Guard-approved life jackets. Adults should keep a properly-fitted life jacket easily accessible.
