Free life jackets available at Snohomish County parks

Published 11:48 pm Saturday, May 24, 2008

LYNNWOOD — This time, nobody torched the life jackets.

Scores of people started their Memorial Day weekend at various lakes in Snohomish County where life jackets are being provided free for daily use.

Life jackets are available for children and adults through Labor Day weekend at Kayak Point Park in Stanwood, Martha Lake Park in Lynnwood, Ross Lake in Snohomish, Silver Lake Park in Everett, Twin Lakes Park in Marysville and Wyatt Park in Lake Stevens.

A year ago, someone set fire to a wooden shed at Martha Lake in Lynnwood, destroying about 30 life jackets that were meant to be used by children at the lake.

On Saturday, there were enough life jackets for everyone at the Lynnwood lake, where children swam in the shallow water and played in the sand on the shoreline.

“I’ve never known of any public park to have a facility where you have life jackets available,” said Teresa Singson of Bellingham, who was at the lake with her children and her sister. “It saves lives.”

The life jackets were obtained through the Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office. The program is organized by Snohomish County SafeKids.

Water safety is a big concern this year. Recent high temperatures caused a large amount of snow melt in the mountains. As a result, rivers in the county are running high, fast and cold.

Although swimmers don’t need to worry about currents in lakes, water temperature remains a potentially lethal hazard, Snohomish County Fire District 1 spokeswoman Leslie Hynes said.

“The water is really cold, and it can hamper even the best swimmers,” Hynes said. “At a place like Martha Lake, it’s really crowded and parents need to supervise their children closely, because drowning can happen very quickly.”

Jesus Martinez, of Lynnwood, was at Martha Lake with Melissa Hasbrouck, his neighbor. Hasbrouck brought her twin 8-year-old daughters and their 7-year-old friend.

The group was almost ready to go buy flotation devices when they noticed the free loaner life jackets.

“Even though the water is just waist deep, you can still drown in a foot of water,” said Martinez, a former lifeguard. “It’s very important to have life jackets.”

Reporter Scott Pesznecker: 425-339-3436 or spesznecker@heraldnet.com.