For Gladstone, Ore., Fire Department officials, Sunday’s drowning was the last straw. A Battle Ground woman was involved in the accident.
Lt. Kirk Stempel said he will ask the City Council to bar motor vehicle access to Meldrum Bar, a problem spot that has repeatedly seen drownings and rescues over the years.
“Something’s got to change,” Stempel said. “We’ve got to get that blocked off because we don’t want this to happen again.”
The problem, Stempel said, is Meldrum Bar is exposed only when the Willamette River is low, offering irresistible temptation to anglers who want to extend their casts and motorists who want a unique view of the water. But the water comes up quickly, swamping anyone who hasn’t hurried off the bar.
Shortly after 2 p.m. Sunday, a two men and a woman drove an SUV out on to the bar under sunny skies. By 2:25 p.m., however, the bar was inundated by a rising river. When they tried to drive back to shore, the SUV began taking water and sank.
Fishermen motored over to help. They tried to grab one of the men, but he slipped from their grasp and went under. They then pulled another man and a woman into their fishing boat and took them to shore.
The survivors, driver Patrick O. Emerson, 35, of Gladstone, and Jennifer Hendricks, 34, of Battle Ground, were taken to OHSU Hospital, where they underwent treatment for hypothermia. Hendricks was treated and released. Emerson was in good condition Monday.
Clackamas County Sheriff’s Office divers recovered the drowning victim’s body downstream around 4:30 p.m.
Gladstone police identified the victim as Harland Ryman, 37, of Brooklyn, N.Y. Acting Chief Jeff Jolley said Ryman planned to relocate to the Portland metro area.
The Oregon State Medical Examiner’s Office is conducting an autopsy. Meanwhile, Clackamas County sheriff’s deputies planned to pull the SUV from the river Monday afternoon.
In November 2012, a man and a woman in a pickup drove out onto Meldrum Bar. The pickup became stuck while attempting to drive from the bar towards the boat ramp and was swept away by the current. The woman was rescued by fishermen, but the man drowned.
