‘Please get lifeguards,’ says mother of boys who drowned in Spanaway Lake. We agree
Pierce County residents are flocking to lakes and rivers for relief during a stretch of unusually hot weather, a record-breaking streak that’s keeping summer alive past Labor Day.
Against that backdrop, tragedy dealt a staggering double blow over the holiday weekend. Brothers Hamadi, 14, and Ramizan Mberwa, 15, drowned Sunday afternoon in Spanaway Lake when Hamadi fell off a flotation device and Ramizan tried to rescue him. Their older brother called for help, but confusion reigned on shore.
The boys’ deaths bring heartbreak to an immigrant family that’s overcome so much over the last decade, having escaped war-torn Somalia and settled in the South Sound by way of a Kenyan refugee camp. (You can help the family lay their boys to rest by contributing here.)
The drownings have also brought renewed attention to the absence of lifeguards at a park that draws more than 400,000 visitors a year.
Though too late for this year, Pierce County officials should redouble efforts to protect the public from hazards at Spanaway Lake, where summer crowds grow nearly as thick as the murky milfoil blooms.
“Please get lifeguards so no other mom has to suffer,” Maryan Mberwa, the mother of Hamadi and Ramizan, pleaded Tuesday.
We echo her request. Visitors at Spanaway Park pay $3 to park a car and $10 to launch or rent a boat; it’s not too much to expect some of that revenue to go into safety improvements.
At the very least, there should be a return of the life jacket checkout station that was removed several years ago, due to water quality and theft problems. Local fire district partners have managed to maintain a life jacket peg board for swimmers at North Lake Tapps, another popular swimming beach, though it was put on hold this year because of COVID-19 transmission concerns.
The pandemic has disrupted all kinds of regional parks and recreation services, including normal lifeguard staffing at parks. In Lakewood, the city’s training program was sidelined by Gov. Jay Inslee’s stay-home order and uncertainty about when restrictions would be lifted; consequently, American Lake Park and Harry Todd Park went without lifeguards this summer.
In Seattle, August had arrived by the time lifeguards were assigned to Green Lake and three other popular swimming beaches, along with social-distancing rules and other COVID-19 precautions.
But at Spanaway Lake, the lifeguard deficit isn’t a one-year aberration; it’s been the regrettable status quo since the 1990s. Pierce County took down its lifeguard chairs not long after the state halted its program in 1993, due to budget issues and the burden of having to oversee training and certification.
“We cannot offer lifeguards enough hours or consistency to sustain employment,” a county spokeswoman told us in a statement Tuesday, “so we’d have huge management costs with a low likelihood of being able to deliver a quality 2-month program that cannot eliminate risk.”
Eliminate it? No. But isn’t it worth trying to ameliorate risk at a lake where someone drowns nearly every summer, like clockwork?.
It’s worth noting that the county has taken steps beyond the obligatory posting of warning signs. For instance, an off-shore dock was removed years ago to keep visitors from trying to swim beyond their skill level.
But before next summer, county leaders should take a hard look at returning lifeguards to Spanaway Lake for the busiest weeks of summer. It would help them meet a pair of objectives: enhancing public safety and strengthening youth employment initiatives.
The lives of two young brothers ended so suddenly on a Labor Day weekend family outing. A conversation about water safety is one way to honor their memory.
This story was originally published September 8, 2020 at 4:45 PM.