Pueblo pool tragedy brings safety awareness

Neighbors of the victims who died while swimming at a Pueblo pool on Monday are in shock over the

.

"They were cute little girls, and their mom was so sweet. It's sad," said neighbor Robin Sinclair.

On Tuesday, the swimming pool at the Pueblo Grande Village mobile home park was adorned with balloons and flowers.

It's still unclear what exactly happened, but 11 News spoke with an expert at a different pool in Pueblo about pool safety in general.

"I would definitely recommend that you always go to a pool with a lifeguard, and if you do happen to go to a pool without one, always have an adult that is there watching you," said Dillon Sprague, an aquatics coordinator with the city of Pueblo.

Sprague said if you jump in to help someone who could be struggling to swim, or possibly drowning, you could be putting your own life in danger unless you're an experienced swimmer.

"When someone is drowning or in distress they are panicking and they do want to get to the surface of the water so they could push you under," Sprague said.

"We always recommend if that does happen, it's 'suck and duck' ... you just push up underneath them, you swing down to the bottom of the pool to get away from them and you swim away."

Sprague said you should then try to reach for them with something and try to help them that way.

This year alone, Pueblo lifeguards have helped nearly 200 distressed swimmers.

The family has set-up a

to help with funeral costs for the two sisters, which has already raised nearly $3,000, as of Tuesday evening.