3 men hurt jumping into water at Naked, Dougan falls

Three men were hospitalized over the weekend after jumping into the upper Washougal River and landing on rocks.

“There are a lot of hidden rocks underneath the water that people aren’t aware of,” said Kaitlyn Hildenbrand, Skamania County Emergency Medical Services spokeswoman. She added that the water in the pool at the base of the falls is not as deep as people think it is.

The first medical call was at Naked Falls, which is northwest of Beacon Rock State Park. It came in at 4:10 p.m. on Saturday. A 20-year-old man dove into the water from a tree and landed on a rock under the water, injuring his back and arms, Hildenbrand said.

The Clark County Regional Technical Rescue Team loaded the man into a basket and used a rope system to pull him out of the water. The man, who was critically injured, was flown in a Life Flight helicopter to PeaceHealth Southwest Medical Center. His condition was unavailable Monday.

Just before 3 p.m. Sunday, a group showed up at Skamania County Fire District 4’s fire station. A 25-year-old man had dove into the water at Dougan Falls and struck his head on a rock, Hildenbrand said. His family pulled him out of the water and drove him to the fire station.

With help from the Camas-Washougal Fire Department, the man was transported with serious injuries to PeaceHealth Southwest.

About 20 minutes later, Skamania County EMS was called to Naked Falls, where a 31-year-old man had jumped into the water and struck his upper leg on a rock. The man was loaded into a basket and pulled out of the water. He also was transported to PeaceHealth Southwest with serious injuries.

Injuries at Naked Falls are common, Hildenbrand said, adding that this time of year is when the agency is particularly busy.

“It’s something that we deal with every summer,” she said.