Merced and San Joaquin rivers remain closed in Merced County

MERCED, Calif. (KFSN) -- As much signs spell up informing radical astir the closure of the Merced and San Joaquin rivers successful Merced County, Sheriff Vern Warnke says helium conscionable wants to support radical safe.

"Stay retired of the water. It's that simple, enactment retired of the water," said Warnke.

"I'm not trying to beryllium a meanie. I'm conscionable trying to support radical and forestall families from going done these tragic events which tin beryllium prevented.

The closures travel aft a 17-year-old lad drowned successful the Merced River Saturday evening.

Crews are inactive searching for his body.

Wednesday afternoon, a antheral and a pistillate were rafting successful the stream erstwhile the swift existent knocked some of them into the water.

"They got tangled up, mislaid the raft and adjacent happening you cognize these 2 are hanging connected to a histrion successful the mediate of the stream for beloved life," said Warnke.

CAL FIRE helped the Merced County Sheriff's Office prevention the two, but Warke stresses they shouldn't person been successful the h2o successful the archetypal spot arsenic it could person go a tragic situation.

"Doggone it, I don't privation to usage the coroner broadside of my title. It happens mode excessively often and it's preventable," Warnke said.

The sheriff says radical who take to get successful the Merced oregon San Joaquin rivers during this closure could look a good and jailhouse time.

"We don't privation that. We don't privation to mention them, we don't adjacent privation to woody with them. But erstwhile they're doing that, I was talking with my aerial portion contiguous and I deliberation we're going to commencement patrolling that stream each time by air," Warnke said.

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