Man Drowns At Crystal Lake In Newton

NEWTON, MA — A young man drowned at Crystal Lake in Newton early this morning, according to the District Attorney's office.

Around 1:50 a.m. police got a call reporting a possible drowning near the far side of Crystal Lake, at Lake Avenue. When emergency responders got there, they found a 28 year old man not responding. They took him to Newton Wellesley where he was pronounced dead.

The caller told the dispatchers that a group of about five friends were swimming at the lake and they couldn't find one of their friends, that he'd been missing for about 10 minutes.

"From the time they took the call to the time our guys pulled the guy from the lake, it was only about 10 minutes," said Capt. Eric Fricke of the Newton Fire Department.

But if someone is distressed in the water it can take as little as 20 seconds before that person goes from distressed to drowning.

There is a lifeguarded, pay swim area on the other side of the lake, however that was closed so late at night. There are signs posted that swimming is not allowed at other sections of the lake. People who choose to swim without a lifeguard there can get a hefty ticket for swimming on the non life-guarded side of the lake. In years past there have been community efforts to make swimming in the pond legal, but "swim at your own risk."

Critics of allowing anyone to swim at the pond point to the possibility of poor water quality outside the legal swimming areas because of storm drain off and high ecoli contamination, damaging the ecology, noise and other safety issues.

Just about each season, as with any open swimming area, emergency responders get a call about a serious incident at the lake.

"The fire department encourages individuals to be safe around bodies of water. There are places at Crystal lake where you can swim with a lifeguard, there's the Gath pool and Boys and Girls club and YMCA," said Fricke.

Still, drownings are infrequent here.

On August 6, 1989 a 28-year-old man drowned there at 2:30 a.m. according to documents he was trespassing after hours near the swim area. Then in 1998 a teen who'd just moved to the area drowned in the lake. In 2010, a 3-year-old nearly drowned, but was rescued by lifeguards and beachgoers. In 2011, a woman reported seeing a man go into the water but not resurface. Newton Police and fire departments brought out rescue boats and searched the lake but didn't find anything.

This is a breaking news alert. More information to come as it becomes available.

Photo by Jenna Fisher/Patch Staff