Patterson Cemetery District, Stanislaus County, CA 

Submitted by Gale Stroud and Burta Herger 26 Aug 2007

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Hernandez Ismael  051126 p3
Four Die in Canal Crash Tuesday      Ismael Hernandez, 30
Westley � Four Stockton residents appear to have drowned and a fifth survived after the van they were riding in plunged
into the Delta-Mendota Canal near Needham Road on Tuesday.  Farm laborers recovered the bodies of Alicia Garcia, 18,
who was pronounced dead at the scene, and Ismael Hernandez, 30, who was taken to Doctors Medical Center in Modesto
and later pronounced dead, according to California Highway Patrol reports.  Meanwhile, driver Dimas Ornellas, 18, and
passenger Martin Albores, 28, are still missing and presumed dead.  Only 17-year-old passenger Miguel Gomez Ornellas
managed to escape, grasping onto an access ladder on the side of the canal and pulling his way out.  "There was just too
much water, and it was going too fast," CHP officer John Martinez said.  The accident happened at about 7:45 a.m., when
Dimas Ornellas was driving a Chevrolet Astro southbound on the west bank of the canal north of Needham Road,
Martinez said.  The workers in the van were traveling from one field to another, he said.  The driver lost control in gravel
as the dirt road along the canal bent to the west, and the minivan traveled in a southeast direction off the roadway and
overturned into the canal. None of the van's occupants was wearing safety belts, and they all managed to climb out of the
driver's window, but only Miguel Ornellas managed to swim to the west bank of the canal, Martinez said.  The young
passenger tried to pull others out by extending an irrigation hose into the water, but he was unsuccessful.  Martinez said
the canal was operating at full capacity, with all five pumps working at once, causing the water to flow rapidly.  Members
of the Stanislaus County Sheriff's Department dive team don't even like to go into the canal when three pumps are
running, he said. Though fellow farm workers pulled out Garcia and Hernandez, Albores and Dimas Ornellas appear to
have gone farther downstream.  The sheriff's dive team spent seven hours trying to recover the bodies Tuesday and tried
again Wednesday morning without success.  Sgt. Mike Parker of the sheriff's department said the dive team starts from
the point of the crash and works its way downstream, checking the area in a gridlike fashion.  It is important to find the
bodies to allow the families to experience closure, he said.  Parker said the sheriff's department has opted not to use
helicopters to conduct a search because the water is too murky to see much from the air.  The longer it takes, the less
likely it is that the bodies will turn up, Parker said.  The state Department of Industrial Relations is investigating the
matter, spokeswoman Renee Bacchini said.  The department's Division of Labor Standards Enforcement will determine
whether the workers' employer, Salida-based Alfaro Farm Labor Contractor, was licensed and used a driver who was at
least 18 years old, she said.  In addition, the division of Occupational Safety and Health will investigate safety issues
regarding the driver and the van itself, she said.  Bacchini said such investigations are allowed to go on up to six months
but are usually finished within two months.  Information about Alfaro provided online by the Division of Labor Standards
Enforcement indicated the company's license expired July 27.  Representatives of the farm labor contracting company
could not be reached for comment this week.  Though the CHP does not know how fast the minivan was traveling, one
area resident, who would not give her name, said many people drive along the canal bank too quickly and fail to pay
attention to the road.  She said she also gets nervous when she sees people bringing children out to the canal while they
go fishing and not holding their children's hands the entire time.  "It's a deep canal, and it's swift water," she said.
From the top it doesn't look like it, but it is.  In addition to taking precautions near canals, Martinez said drivers should
take their time in general when driving.  "During the holiday season, it's imperative to slow down," he said.  "People
shouldn't follow so closely."