12 rescued from river mishap

A dozen people, including a 6-month-old baby and several small children, avoided tragedy late Friday night as they were rescued from islands on the dark and cold Willamette River southeast of Junction City.

The rescue by the Lane County Sheriff’s Office and Junction City and Harrisburg fire departments was impeded when rescuers had no key to open the gate at the Hayes Landing boat ramp off River Road, said John Miller, search and rescue coordinator for Lane County.

“Today, we all have keys (to the gate at Hayes Landing),” Miller said Saturday. “We took care of that problem.”

Four people went into the river’s cold water after their rafts punctured or overturned at Lane’s Turn — about two miles south of Hayes Landing — about 9:30 p.m., Miller said. All were wearing life jackets and no alcohol was involved, but Miller said no one should be on the river after dark.

“They did a lot of things right, but they (put in the water) too late,” Miller said.

All were “mildly hypothermic” when rescuers reached them about 40 minutes later, Miller said. Because of the locked gate at Hayes Landing, rescuers had to find another route through private property to enter the river, he said.

The rafters, all but two from Eugene, put two inflatable rafts and three catarafts in the water about 7 p.m. under the Randy Papé Beltline bridge that crosses the river, Miller said.

“Mistake number one, they started pretty late,” he said. Summertime rafters shouldn’t begin a trip later than 5 p.m., Miller cautioned.

Eight people in the two inflatable rafts piloted by adults included five children between the ages of 3 and 9, and the 6-month-old infant, Miller said. After missing the boat ramp at Hayes Landing, they ended up stranded on an island in the river, he said.

The four rescued near Lane’s Turn, which included a husband and wife, ended up in the water after two of their catarafts either deflated after being punctured by sticks or logs, or overturned, Miller said.

One of them, a man clinging to branches with one hand and using his cell phone with the other, called 911 about 9:40 p.m., Miller said. When rescuers finally reached them, two had made it onto an island, and two were still in the 50-degree water, Miller said.

Junction City and Harrisburg fire departments assisted in the rescue, he said.

“We needed all those people to round them up,” Miller said.

The 12 were among 20 people rescued from Lane County waters on Friday, Miller said.

Six people were rescued at Dorena Lake and two in the McKenzie River at Armitage Park earlier in the day, he said.