A 31-year-old Portland man is dead after his ATV launched off a steep sand ridge and crashed in the Umpqua Dunes National Recreation Area, according to the Douglas County Sheriff's Office. Austin Anthony Durrett had been riding with a group near Fourth Finger when he went off to search for another rider who had run out of fuel, and he never made it back.
Dispatchers received a call about an injury ATV wreck near Third Finger just after 4:30 p.m. on November 1, according to KQEN News Radio. Durrett had left the area known as Lake Shot to find the stranded group member, and when he failed to return, the rest of his group began searching for him. They found him roughly 45 minutes later, unresponsive and not breathing, as reported by KATU. EMS personnel responded to the scene and pronounced him deceased.
Dune Appears to Have Sent ATV Airborne
Initial reports indicate Durrett appeared to have traveled off an approximately 40-foot razorback dune at a high rate of speed, sending the ATV airborne before it slammed back down. The crash remains under investigation, with the Douglas County Sheriff's Office notifying both the Douglas County Medical Examiner's Office and Durrett's family of his death.
No further details about what led Durrett to attempt the dune at speed, or what he found when searching for his stranded companion, have been released. The sheriff's office has not said whether any additional findings have emerged since the crash was first reported.
Pattern of Fatal Dune Crashes on the Oregon Coast
Durrett's death adds to a string of fatal ATV and off-road vehicle crashes across Oregon's coastal dune country this year. Back in May, a 35-year-old man was killed and a teenage boy seriously injured in a crash during Memorial Day weekend, after emergency crews responded near Railroad Hill in the Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area to a collision involving two dirt bikes and a side-by-side, according to the Statesman Journal.
In a separate incident reported by The World, an ATV operator was declared deceased at the scene at about 2:26 p.m. after a crash at Razor Back Hill near Hauser. The steep, shifting terrain of Oregon's dune recreation areas has repeatedly proven dangerous for riders moving at speed over blind ridgelines.
No additional information about the cause of Durrett's crash or any potential findings from the ongoing investigation has been released.
