Lifeguards usually don’t start working in Pismo Beach until Memorial Day, but with the unseasonably warm temperatures, people are flocking to local beaches to cool off.
Early Friday morning, surfers were in the water trying to get ahead of the weekend crowds. Laura Lucero said warm weekends come with some frustrations.
“It's fine," Lucero said. "I mean, it definitely makes the beach more crowded, so there's that. It can be harder to park and stuff like that.”
Lucero said surfers look out for each other, especially in the off-season when lifeguards aren’t present.
Dean Novotny has been surfing for over 20 years.
“I usually don't count on lifeguards keeping me safe," Novotny said. "So it's up to me. It's actually pretty safe here at Pismo, so not too much to worry about.”
Aldo Medina brought his family to the beach Friday and didn’t notice the lack of lifeguards.
"They should definitely have some sort of lifeguards or some sort of assistance out here in case it's needed, because people are still going to be out here," Medina said. "They're not going to wait til Memorial Day to come out here and have fun.”
Medina said his wife doesn’t know how to swim and neither do his two young children.
“I just got to be a little bit more vigilant," he said. "Not just with them, but even other strangers. You know, if I see that they're struggling or something, I'm going to do my part to help them.”
CAL FIRE oversees the lifeguards at Pismo Beach, and Captain Nicholi Mackewicz said lifeguards will be on duty earlier than usual.
“This weekend, we're expecting warmer temperatures and larger crowds," Mackewicz said. "We just want to make sure that we have adequate staffing to augment what we have on our fire apparatus. That way, we can get rapid response to any kind of emergency here at the beach.”
He said the lifeguards will only be around for the heat wave. For the rest of the off-season, CAL FIRE will keep beachgoers safe.
“If there is an emergency on the beach, we do have members that are trained and qualified to make entry into the water and bring people to shore for EMS care,” Mackewicz said.
Lifeguards are typically on duty throughout the summer, starting on Memorial Day and lasting through Labor Day.
