Boy, 10, dies in dune collapse

A 10-year-old Arizona boy was killed Sunday afternoon when a cave he and his cousin were digging in a dune near Bodega Bay collapsed, burying him six to eight feet inside a tunnel of sand.

The accident occurred at about 3:30 p.m. at Salmon Creek Beach, which was crowded with beachgoers, said Bodega Bay Fire Chief Sean Grinnell.

"It is a very freak accident," Grinnell said. "It is a first for me and I have been out here 17 years."

The boy's identity was withheld while relatives were being notified, said Heidi Horvitz, the state Department of Parks and Recreation public safety superintendent.

Horvitz said it took rescuers an hour digging with shovels to find the child. By then, resuscitation efforts were too late.

"As far as we can tell, some of the kids were digging in a hole under a cypress tree on the bank," Horvitz said. "The tree gave way, trapping one of the boys under the sand."

The victim's family had rented a vacation house in the Bodega Bay area and were among the crowds packing Sonoma County beaches as inland temperatures neared 100.

"At Bodega Bay, we were at maximum capacity, beaches were crowded, there was no place to park, traffic was at a crawl," Grinnell said.

The boys were tunneling into the side of a sand dune, under a 40- to 50-foot-tall tree, on the south side of where Salmon Creek winds toward the ocean, Horvitz said.

The sand tunnel apparently collapsed, and the tree fell over.

"One kid was partially buried, but he was able to free himself and come get help," Grinnell said. "The other kid was much farther inside."

Horvitz said the victim's parents were nearby and witnessed the tree fall and sand tunnel collapse.

Tim Gravenites, 24, of Sebastopol, had headed to Salmon Creek with friends in search of relief from the heat and found himself caught up in the rescue effort.

"I was walking from our car toward the beach entrance and heard a very large 'snap!' " Gravenites said. "Then I saw a boy, maybe 15 years old, running . . . and he told me a tree fell on his brother."

Gravenites rushed to the scene and helped frantic family members trying to dig the younger boy out. He and his friend, Lenny Zappa, stayed on after rescue personnel arrived and continued to dig.

"They shooed us away when it became clear it was too dangerous. The tree nearly fell on us as we were trying to dig the boy out -- it lurched a couple of times," he said.

The rescue effort included personnel from the Bodega Bay Fire Department, state park rangers and lifeguards, the Valley Ford, Bodega and Gold Ridge fire departments, the California Highway Patrol, state Fish and Game, and the sheriff's and REACH helicopters.

You can reach Staff Writer Bob Norberg at 521-5206 or bob.norberg@pressdemocrat.com