PORTLAND, Ore. — Two people were hospitalized, one in critical condition, after their van rolled down the boat launch ramp at Willamette Park in south Portland and into the river Wednesday morning, prompting a water rescue operation.
The incident was called in at 11:14 a.m. and the first Portland Fire & Rescue crew arrived at the ramp at 11:21 a.m. and found the van fully submerged, according to public information officer Lt. Sean Fogarty. A man had already managed to escape, but a woman was trapped in the passenger compartment.
Fire crews first tried to break the van windows using hand tools to rescue her, and they managed to break one window but couldn't get the woman out that way, Fogarty said, so they instead opted to dive down to try another method.
"What they wound up actually doing to successfully rescue the woman was to pull the van completely out of the water," he said. "Members went under the surface and were able to attach tow straps and ropes and were able to pull the van completely out. And at that point she was rescued — approximately 15 minutes after our first crews arrived on scene."
Dive teams were also on the way at the time, he said, but the winch strategy worked before they arrived.
The woman was extricated from the van at 11:36 a.m. and taken to the hospital in critical condition. The man was also taken to the hospital with minor injuries. Fogarty said there was likely an air pocket inside the van that helped the woman survive.
In a later update from PF&R, the woman remains in critical condition.
"This was an extraordinary rescue effort that speaks to the power of the 911 system we all depend on when we only have moments to live," said PF&R Fire Chief Sara Boone in a news release. "The heroism, creative problem solving and decisive action displayed by Portland firefighters gave this woman the best chance of survival."
The man and woman were apparently in the process of unloading a boat when the van rolled down the ramp, Fogarty said.
The van could be seen parked on the ramp after the rescue was over, shortly before noon, with multiple fire vehicles nearby and about a dozen police and fire personnel clustered around the top of the ramp.
"Some form of wheel chock under your back tire would be a great practice" in addition to setting the parking brake, Fogarty said, noting that fire crews added stoppers behind the van wheels once they got it back on the ramp.
The large riverside park off of South Macadam Avenue is one of two Portland parks with boat launch ramps, the other being Cathedral Park in North Portland. Willamette Park has two ramps divided by a floating dock.
"We risk a lot to save a lot, and today these firefighters risked their own lives to perform in an exceptional rescue effort under incredibly difficult circumstances," said Boone. "Our connection to a victim continues after the call ends, and our fire family extends our hearts to both folks that needed help today."