A woman drove a vehicle into the Clackamas River early Saturday morning, setting off a multi-agency scramble to pull her to safety. The Clackamas County Sheriff's Office says it joined that rescue effort, though the agency has not released details about her condition, the vehicle, or the exact location along the river.
The sheriff's office shared the news in a post Tuesday, referring to the rescue as occurring Saturday morning, stating simply that the agency and its partners worked together to save her life. “The Clackamas County Sheriff's Office joined a multi-agency effort Saturday morning to save the life of a woman who drove a vehicle into the Clackamas River,” the Clackamas Sheriff
wrote, under the handle @ClackCoSheriff.
A River With a Dedicated Rescue Network
Incidents like this one are exactly why Clackamas County built a standing water-rescue partnership. The Clackamas County Sheriff's Office is one of several local agencies that belong to the Clackamas County Water Rescue Consortium, according to Clackamas Fire. The consortium provides regional rescue coverage across the county, including both the Clackamas and Willamette Rivers.
That shared system pools a wide range of equipment and training among its member agencies. Per the fire district's own description, responders can call on “swiftwater technicians on kayaks and catarafts, to fast moving jet skis, whitewater rescue boats and SCUBA divers,” depending on what a given emergency demands. The structure explains how Saturday's effort could quickly become multi-agency even though the sheriff's office has not spelled out which partners showed up.
Past Incidents Show the River's Risks
Saturday's rescue is not the first time a vehicle has ended up in the Clackamas River. Back in 2019, a woman was injured after her husband intentionally drove their van down the boat ramp at Barton Park and into the water, according to 1190 KEX. In a separate incident at Clackamette Park in Oregon City, a woman died after her car entered the river, as reported by KATU.
The river and its tributaries have also tested rescue crews in other recent incidents. In June 2020, a rescue effort on the Clackamas River ended with one woman drowning and another taken to a hospital, Oregonlive reported, with responders that time including sheriff's deputies, search-and-rescue coordinators, and members of the same water rescue consortium. More recently, on September 3, crews pulled three people and four pets from a car that plunged into a Clackamas County creek, according to KPTV, with two of the people taken to the hospital for unknown injuries while the third person and all four pets were unharmed.
Not every recent water emergency in the area has involved a vehicle. A kayaker and her small dog, Gizmo, were rescued from the Clackamas River near Milo McIver State Park on a Friday in October after their kayak overturned, KATU reported. Together, the string of incidents underscores how often local crews are called to the water, even as the outcome of Saturday's rescue for the woman involved remains unknown.
