SANGER -Members of the Fresno County Sheriff-Coroner’s Air Support Unit were conducting a patrol flight of the Kings River, southeast of the City of Sanger late Tuesday morning. While nearing the Goodfellow Bridge, they observed what appeared to be a capsized boat floating in the water. 

They observed a male subject standing nearby in thick brush on the bank of the river.  The air crew then noticed what appeared to be an unresponsive subject floating in the river, not far from where the other subject was standing. The air crew radioed for patrol units to assist and they were able to effectively guide them, along with rescue personnel from Fresno County Fire and Sanger Fire, to the location of the victim.

Fresno County Fire personnel deployed their inflatable rescue boat and were able to maneuver down-river to the victim where he was successfully extracted from the water. The victim was taken to the shore, where he was off-loaded and turned over to medical personnel standing by.  The victim was not responsive and not breathing, therefore CPR was immediately initiated. The victim was transported by ambulance to Community Regional Medical Center, where he was later pronounced deceased by hospital staff.  His identity is not being released at this time, pending confirmation from the Coroner’s Office and notification of family members.

The surviving victim reported he and the decedent had been fishing and boating on the river.  While floating down river, a portion of the boat became caught on a nearby tree branch that was out of the water.  This caused the boat to capsize and both subjects were thrown into the water. 

There were life jackets on-board the boat, but neither subject was wearing one at the time the boat capsized.  Members of the Sheriff – Coroner’s Office Boating Enforcement Unit are making arrangements to have the capsized boat removed from the river.  The investigation into this boating accident is still ongoing and the Sheriff-Coroner’s Office would like to remind everyone to practice good water safety at all times when boating or recreating on local waterways.