Santa Cruz Fire confirms two people died following water rescue along West Cliff Drive

SANTA CRUZ, Calif. (KION-TV) -- Santa Cruz Fire has confirmed to KION that two people died following a water rescue on West Cliff Drive Tuesday night.

Dramatic video obtained by KION shows multiple agencies attempting to rescue two people from the ocean in Santa Cruz on Tuesday night.

Santa Cruz Fire said around 6:18 p.m. they received reports of two people standing on a rock along West Cliff Drive and David Way.

Witnesses told Santa Cruz Fire a wave came up and washed both individuals off the rocks and directly into the ocean.

According to Santa Cruz Fire, a man and woman were pulled from the water and taken to a harbor boat. CPR was conducted by responders on the boat until they were transferred back to shore. Once back at shore, one person was confirmed dead at the scene. Another was person was transferred to a hospital where the other death was confirmed.

“The waves come in and every now and then you think you know where the line is, where the waves are coming and they’ll be the sneaker waves that come up," Diane Castle a Capitola resident said.

A large emergency response included local fire, police, state park, harbor patrol and AMR ambulances.

The Santa Cruz Fire Department said that there were 4 swimmers deployed as well.

“The majority of our water rescues again 80% of them on the beaches involve rip currents and the other majority of our calls are off of our cliff areas that are extremely hazardous," Oatey said.

When crews arrived on the scene, water access was their primary issue because the area was extremely hazardous.

Once they were received, the victims were transported to the yacht harbor and underwent advanced life-support. Then, one of the victims were transported to a local hospital.

“This time of year in the summer, we’re seeing these southerly wells and east wells come in which happened to catch people off guard," Oatey said.

Fire crews saying that unfortuantely, water rescues are very common.

In 2023, they had 43 water rescue incidents.

They get calls for ocean rescues weekly depending on time of year and water conditions.

“Being summertime and seeing as how we are experiencing a heat wave in the inland areas, we have many people that are coming to visit our coastline, and so our message is to make sure that those folks that are aware of the conditions, both current and expected to change" Oatey said.

After the news came out about the tragic incident, we spoke to Simon Cushman who goes down to the rocks almost daily.

“It’s the view you’re closer to the water and it’s kind of part of the culture atmosphere here to be like really close to the water," Simon Cushman a Santa Cruz resident said.

But says, he is always cautious before heading down by the rocks.

“On a day like today, for example, the waves are pretty big, I would probably think twice," Cushman said.

Santa Cruz Fire is reminding people to make sure that they are aware of the ocean conditions, both current and upcoming.

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