18-year-old dies in third drowning in two weeks at California lake, officials say

An 18-year-old man died after slipping off a log and plunging into Lake Berryessa, California officials reported.

Zaire Watu Fairley of Vallejo fell off a log into the water shortly after 1:30 p.m. Sunday, July 10, while visiting the Smittle Creek Day Use Area with friends, the Napa County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release.

An off-duty police officer on a nearby boat dove in to find Fairley and pulled him to shore, where off-duty nurses also from the boat tried to revive him, the sheriff’s office said.

Rescuers took Fairley to a hospital, where he was later pronounced dead, the release said. It’s the third death in two weeks at the lake.

“The main reason why this is happening is that people are not wearing life jackets,” sheriff’s spokesperson Henry Wofford told The San Francisco Chronicle.

Free life jackets are made available at several places around the lake, including the Smittle Creek Day Use Area, Wofford told the publication.

Marciallo Perez, 35, drowned July 3 while trying to rescue his son, who survived, and Demetrio Perriatt, 16, drowned while rafting on the lake on June 27, KTVU reported.

This story was originally published July 11, 2022 at 10:07 AM with the headline "18-year-old dies in third drowning in two weeks at California lake, officials say."