Holiday weekend rescues underscore wild dangers of city rivers 

This story has been updated.

People struggled to keep their heads above the swift waters of the Willamette and McKenzie rivers when holiday weekend recreation turned into frightening, life-threatening emergencies.

Rescue crews frequently respond to people in urgent need on these rivers. While they flow through city limits, the waters are anything but tame. They flow from the mountains, and retain a chilling, unpredictable character as they pass through built environments in Eugene and Springfield. 

The misconception that rivers are a carefree way to cool off is frustrating and, at times, tragic for those who work on or steward the rivers — something first responders and guides, both newcomers and veterans, are trying to change. Their bottom line: Wear a life jacket.

“Our rivers are incredibly cold,” said Sgt. Tim Wallace with the Lane County Sheriff’s Office. “They’re also swift, and being swift, they have a lot of downed trees. The riverbanks of our rivers are pretty wild.”

A woman died after being submerged in the Willamette River for nearly 10 minutes on July 3, after losing a float near the Knickerbocker Bridge. She was brought to a shallow gravel bar, where a bystander performed CPR. 

Eugene Springfield Fire crews arrived moments later, took over resuscitation efforts and rushed the victim to PeaceHealth Sacred Heart Medical Center RiverBend.

Two days later, July 5, crews rescued five people from the McKenzie River, upstream from Bellinger Landing County Park. A small fishing boat took on water and began sinking, trapping three people and two bystanders who tried to help. The boat captain jumped into the water to free one person whose arm was pinned by tree branches in the water and was struggling to breathe. Once ashore, no one reported injuries.

The dangers beneath 

Local river guides like Wade Hanel are all too familiar with the stretch of the Willamette between Clearwater Park in Springfield and Alton Baker Park in Eugene.

“Ever since I was a little kid, we’ve had athletes from the University of Oregon that have lost their lives on that stretch of the Willamette,” said Hanel, who operates under Adventures North West. “Pool floats are the worst idea because all it takes is one small stick and next thing you know that thing is deflated.”

But there are far more hidden hazards than just a stray twig. 

In the Willamette, a low-head dam near Day Island creates a drop that has flipped rafts and trapped swimmers before, with no clear signage warning of its danger — though the sheriff’s office said that was not a factor in the July 3 incident. The current, in both the Willamette and McKenzie, also carries downed trees, submerged branches and other debris that can pin or trap people underwater, as happened July 5.

Removing debris from the river is a huge undertaking, Hanel said, because no single agency is responsible for clearing it. Sometimes volunteers come together to help, but with only so many hours in the day, Hanel and other guides have a business to run. 

It’s why they look to another means to help: education. Chance Rey, who works at Eugene-based Oregon Paddle Sports, does this through both in-store interactions and community engagement — talking with customers about safe trip plans, teaching rescue and paddling classes, and creating a welcoming space for newcomers to ask questions.

“Everyone has to start somewhere,” said Rey, who got into outdoor recreation during the pandemic. “But there’s just, like, a few really basic things that people need, and a life jacket is really one of them.”  

Putting on the life jacket 

Convincing people to put on a life jacket isn’t always easy. In Rey’s experience, some people think they are tougher than the water. 

“There’s this interesting intersection that occurs of guys not wanting to wear life jackets and them getting into trouble, like this macho thing,” Rey said.

That attitude sets a poor example for children, he said, because many grow up thinking life jackets are only for little kids, and that they’ll “graduate” from wearing them someday. Whether it’s style or cost holding people back, modern life jackets aren’t what they used to be, said Wallace, who works extensively on public messaging for the marine patrol.

“You can get your standard giant orange life jacket that gets in the way of everything or you can spend a little bit more and get a life jacket that lets you paddle freely and is thin,” he said. “There’s just so many options.” 

What isn’t optional, by law, is having a life jacket on board. Oregon requires one for every person on all watercraft, including kayaks and paddleboards. But ultimately it’s wearing them, fitted correctly to one’s body, that makes the difference and can prevent deadly days, especially on fast-moving rivers. 

“Inevitably, every year we have, we have near drownings or fatal drownings,” said Wallace. “And it’s nearly always because people aren’t wearing life jackets.”