LYNNWOOD – Sporting a borrowed life jacket, 7-year-old Anneka Bakker felt brave enough to swim in Martha Lake’s deep waters.
“If I were in a big lake like this one I’d be scared,” the Brier girl said Thursday. “I really need something like this to hold me up.”
She was wearing one of the several dozen life preservers available free in a new cabinet installed Wednesday at the public swimming area on the south end of Martha Lake.
The cabinet, one of six in Snohomish County, had been installed on the lake in late May. The following day someone lit the Martha Lake cabinet on fire and destroyed it.
The Snohomish County Fire Marshall’s office has identified a suspect and is continuing to collect evidence, said Leslie Hynes, a Snohomish County Fire District 1 spokeswoman. No arrests have been made.
The new cabinet is made of metal and is painted a light green.
With temperatures pushing 80 degrees Thursday, what mattered most was that there were plenty of life preservers for the dozens of children cooling off in the water.
“Lifejackets should be worn all the time in or around water,” Snohomish County SafeKIDS spokeswoman Shawneri Guzman said. SafeKIDS sponsors the cabinets countywide.
Even children who have taken lessons or who are accustomed to the water should wear a life jacket, Guzman said.
Fatigue, falling over or inexperience can get children in trouble in the water, she said.
“A child can drown in as little as 1 inch of water and it can happen in a matter of seconds,” Guzman said.
Sue Anne Wilks of Bothell said she used to put floats on her children’s arms.
Now, her daughter, Allison, 5, wears a life jacket.
“This is so much safer,” she said.
Plus, Allison is more comfortable, Wilks said.
“We think it’s terrific. We were just saying how nice that was to have them available.”
Reporter Jackson Holtz: 425-339-3437 or jholtz@heraldnet.com.
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