Officials stress water safety after close calls at Fallsburg

Officials with the Fallsburg Fire Department advise swimmers to be aware of water safety hazards near the Fallsburg Campground following five calls of possible drownings within a month.

LOUISA — Fallsburg Fire Chief Chris Jobe said there have been five calls within a month of possible drownings at the same location at Fallsburg Campground, but officials were able to rescue the swimmers.
“The most recent call was last week, when an 11-year-old was swimming and got caught in the whirlpool and couldn’t get out and his aunt, Amy Robertson, a nurse, went in to help him, and she had to struggle too,” Jobe said. “There was a 70-year-old and a younger person who got out there on another occasion and ended up on a dune, and we had to go out there and rescue them. He was in bad shape and had to go to the hospital.”
Jobe said three of the five instances have resulted in the person being transported to the hospital to get checked, and the other two were fine. “Where the water comes together out there, there is a whirlpool, and when the water is up, it makes the current so strong,” Jobe said. “We’ve been working with the campground and with the Corps of Engineers to try and make people aware of water safety hazards. They gave us a buoy to put there, but it wouldn’t stay, so we are going to try and stick a sign down there to warn people of danger.”
Jobe said that they are working together to help people learn to be more aware of their surroundings, to swim with a buddy and to wear a life-jacket.