A man became pinned beneath a boulder on the jetty at Hammond Marina Saturday morning, prompting an urgent multi-agency rescue that ended with a U.S. Coast Guard helicopter crew hoisting him free by stretcher and flying him to Air Station Astoria for transfer to awaiting emergency medical services. The Warrenton Fire Department called for backup just after 7:30 a.m. when it became clear that unstable terrain made an on-foot extrication too dangerous.
According to KOIN.com, officials said the man was pinned under a rock on the jetty at Hammond Marina in Astoria, and that unstable terrain made a ground rescue unsafe. Watchstanders at U.S. Coast Guard Sector Columbia River logged the assistance request from Warrenton Fire at 7:38 a.m. Saturday, September 26, and an Air Station Astoria MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter arrived on scene by 8:51 a.m., according to the Chinook Observer.
A Careful Hoist From Unstable Rock
The Jayhawk crew lowered a stretcher on a rope to reach the man, hoisted him from the jetty, and brought him aboard the helicopter, per KOIN.com's reporting. He was transferred to an awaiting emergency medical crew at Air Station Astoria just before 10 a.m., with the Chinook Observer's timeline placing the full stretcher hoist and EMS transfer at 9:55 a.m. From there, the man was taken to Columbia Memorial Hospital in Astoria for treatment.
Columbia Memorial Hospital is a 25-bed independent Level III Trauma Center and Critical Access Hospital that operates in partnership with Oregon Health & Science University, and it stands as one of the few remaining independent rural hospitals in the state, per the hospital's own account of its operations. Neither the man's identity nor the specifics of his medical condition have been disclosed by authorities, and the Chinook Observer reports that detail remains undisclosed.
Coast Guard Points to Teamwork, Warns of Jetty Dangers
Chief Petty Officer Patrick Toomey, command duty officer for Coast Guard Sector Columbia River, said the operation reflected close coordination between agencies. “Today showcased how the Coast Guard and local agencies work together to save lives,” Toomey said, according to KOIN.com. The Coast Guard also used the incident to renew a standing safety message, advising people to remain vigilant on jetties and breakwaters and to avoid walking on them if possible, warning that unpredictable waves, changing tides, and slippery, uneven surfaces make the structures hazardous.
The mouth of the Columbia River near Hammond Marina carries the historical nickname “The Graveyard of the Pacific,” a designation tied to more than 2,000 vessels lost and 700 deaths caused by the area's heavy ocean surge and shifting tides, according to Oregon Public Broadcasting.
A Well-Known Marina With a Hollywood Past
Hammond Marina is in Warrenton. It is used for lower Columbia River salmon fishing and holds a notable pop-culture credit as the filming site for the breakwater jump scene in the 1993 movie Free Willy, according to the Lower Columbia Estuary Partnership.
Air Station Astoria's Jayhawk crews cover search-and-rescue operations stretching from Washington's Queets River south to Oregon's Cape Kiwanda.
Hoodline has previously covered a Lincoln City cliff rescue, part of a pattern of coastal emergencies along the Oregon shoreline that regularly test the limits of ground-based rescue teams.
