Grandfather Collapses and Dies at Hamilton Pool

A man in his 60s who brought his three grandchildren to play at the collapsed and died in the locker room Tuesday evening, according to the .

The unidentified man was missing until someone checked the men's bathroom and couldn't open the door because the man's lifeless body was blocking it, said fire Captain Erich Mesenburg. An emergency call was made at 5:54 p.m., and two fire engines and a medical crew arrived within minutes, he said.

Someone managed to force the man's legs aside to open the door, and medics evaluated the man on the bathroom floor with an electro-cardiogram device.

"There were some signs of obvious death," Mesenburg said. "He didn't have any circulation for quite a while."

The man was declared dead at 6:04 p.m.

"It was tough because the grandkids were there," Mesenburg said.

Mesenburg credited the pool's management and staff for tending to the children and playing with them while the medical team did its job. The staff retrieved emergency contact information so the children's parents could be called, he said.

"Under those circumstances, the staff did a great job," he said.

are conducting an investigation into the man's death, the captain said.

Hamilton Pool is one of Novato's top summertime fun destinations after having been renovated and reopened several years ago. Mesenburg said the three children were pool members.