Calgary Fire Department urges precautions on city waterways to prevent injuries or drownings

Members of the Calgary Fire Department are reminding Calgarians to stay safe on the city’s waterways this summer and to take extra precautions in an effort to prevent injuries or drownings.

Rescue boats are actively patrolling the Bow River in collaboration with the Calgary Police Service to help enforce municipal bylaw and provincial statutes such as wearing a personal floatation device.

The fine for not wearing a life jacket on Calgary waterways is $500 and comes with a mandatory court appearance.

Aside from the most basic rules, rafters are also discouraged from tying their watercrafts together where the risk of them getting entangled with bridge pillars or other natural hazards increases.

Alex Kwan, community safety officer with the Calgary Fire Department says the current is travelling very fast near bridges.

“So as that kind of pushes people down, you need to be looking downstream and have something to steer your watercraft with and start steering earlier than you might think because you can see how quickly that water moves,” he said.

“If you don't prepare yourself ahead of time, you can end up getting pushed right into that pillar, and the force of that water can pit you against the bridge pillar leading to sometimes fatal consequences.”

The Calgary Fire Department responds to on average 300 calls on the city’s waterways each year and is again reminding of a number of different hazards for those who plan to recreate the area.

Rescue boats are actively patrolling the Bow River in collaboration with the Calgary Police Service to help enforce municipal bylaw and provincial statutes such as wearing a personal floatation device.

Garbage, rocks, trees, and debris all pose a risk says Lieutenant Ed Daykin.

“So if you can imagine a tree that’s fallen into the river, the water is going through the tree with all the branches and it will actually catch debris, other sticks, logs, and humans if possible,” he said.

“So you’ll stop but the water will continue, you can’t swim through. Other trees that are exposed over the water are also hazards, it could puncture your inflatable boat, puncture it or hold you under.”

DROWNING CAN HAPPEN 'IN A MATTER OF SECONDS'

According to the Lifesaving Society, anywhere from 400 to 500 Canadians die from drowning on average each year, which includes about 30 Albertans.

Most of those incidents unfortunately occur in the summertime, which is why the society marks the third week of July (July 16 to July 22) as National Drowning Prevention Week.

Madison Lalonde is the organization’s media relations manager for Alberta and Northwest Territories branch. She notes that drowning can happen in a matter of seconds without any warning.

“It’s not like you see in the movies. Drowning is often silent, it’s not like you see it in the movies,” Lalonde said.

“That’s why it’s so important to always be paying attention, make sure you aren’t distracted, stay off your phone and designate a responsible adult to be actively supervising children if they’re with you.”

Lalonde adds that learning to swim is an essential resource to help gain confidence, but also wearing a life jacket that fits snugly and doesn’t pull up past the ears is essential for even the most experienced swimmers.

Calgary’s Bow River often reaches its peak of fast-moving water around late June to July following snow melt in the mountains, meaning that the temperatures can be much colder and the currents can be difficult to navigate.

Many of the areas along the river are also not suitable for swimming and Calgarians are urged to pay attention to roper signage where safe swimming areas are marked.

“Moving water is not safe water. It can change year over year, it can change from day to day and it might be a little bit deeper now than you previously remember,” Lalonde said.

“There can be underwater hazards, rocks, and other obstacles where you can get injured or your limbs or clothing could get stuck. The most dangerous things are those undercurrents which you might not be able to see that can pull you straight under.”