Heat wave extends lifeguard hours at Rockaway Beach

 ROCKAWAY BEACH, Queens (PIX11) -- If the temperatures hit 90 degrees on Saturday, it will officially be a heat wave in the tri-state area.

But even if that doesn’t happen, it’s going to be super hot and muggy, which means many people will come to cool off in the ocean even after the lifeguards are off duty.

So that’s why lifeguards will have extended hours at some popular beaches, including one where one after-hours swimmer was saved last night.     

Lifeguards kept on duty for an extra two hours under the NYC Heat go ahead Emergency Plan rescued a swimmer in the water off Beach 81st Street in Rockaway Thursday night.

An FDNY drone team noticed the 32-year-old man struggling an hour after the beach was closed to swimmers at 6 p.m. Lifeguards in this nearby lifeguard station responded and pulled the struggling swimmer out of the water.

He was conscious and breathing and is now said to be fine. “I think anything that saves lives is wonderful,” Jeffrey Rose, a Rockaway beachgoer, told PIX11 News. “And using the drones as a modern way using great technology to save people as well,” he added.

Lifeguards were back on duty Friday night between 6 and 8 PM when swimming is prohibited just in case swimmers go in despite the red flags, rules, threatening skies, and treacherous surf. And sure enough, PIX 11 found some in the rough water.

“I know not to go too far out and just stay right there,” MMK Jay, a swimmer, told PIX11 News.

“I don’t listen to the rules,” another swimmer named Tom Topale, from Howard Beach, told PIX11 News when asked why he was swimming after hours. “You should not go swimming after 6. It’s dangerous,” he added.

City Lifeguards are expected to be on duty, for an extra two hours, not in chairs or on the sand, but in the lifeguard stations throughout the weekend as the extreme heat continues.

This is a welcome idea for many on the boardwalk. “Having lifeguards on the beach in a heat wave in Rockaway, which is super popular I think is a good idea,” Anna Tarbell, a Rockaway resident, told PIX11 News.

A woman walking along the beach, Desiree Hilmer, of Auverne added: “ I think they should do it all summer long. It’s very important because people go in between six and eight and no one is here then people drown. It’s essential you can’t ignore reality.”