Life Jacket Exchange Station Sunday At Canyon Lake

PHOENIX — The Arizona Game And Fish Department will hold a life jacket exchange event from 10 a.m. to noon Sunday, July 12 at Canyon Lake.

Boaters with tattered and worn ski-vest type III lifejackets can exchange them for new ones at the lake, about 15 miles northeast of Apache Junction, until noon or while supplies last. A similar life jacket exchange event will be held Sunday, July 19 at Saguaro Lake.

“This is a great opportunity to keep ourselves and the people we care about safe,” said Josh Hoffman, Arizona Game and Fish Boating Safety Education coordinator. “No one starts a day on the water planning to have an accident, yet they happen every day. This is why Arizona law requires that we have a serviceable life jacket for everyone on board.”

Drowning was the reported cause of death in 78 percent of the 610 recreational boating fatalities in 2014 nationwide, according to the U.S. Coast Guard. Of those incidents, 84 percent of those who drowned were not wearing life jackets.

For more information on boating in Arizona or to sign up for a safety course, visit http://www.azgfd.gov/boating.

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