South Metro Fire Rescue
Two children were rescued but their father perished when a gust of wind knocked them off their paddleboard in Colorado on Monday, prompting a somber reminder from parks officials to always wear life jackets on the water.
Colorado Parks and Wildlife, South Metro Fire Rescue, West Metro Fire Rescue and Jefferson County Sheriffs Office responded to a report of a missing paddleboarder at Chatfield State Park at around 4:30 p.m. Monday. Witnesses reported that the missing man and his two children were sharing a paddleboard when they were knocked off by a strong gust of wind. Bystanders rescued the children from the water, but their father did not surface.
First responders and park rangers launched boats and deployed dive teams, an underwater drone and sonar to search the reservoir for the missing father. Photos shared by South Metro Fire Rescue show several boats searching the reservoir. As time wore on and “extensive grid searches” yielded no results, the search shifted to a recovery operation…