Woman is rescued from river
By Terry Murry on Monday, May 22nd, 2023 in Columbia Basin News More Top Stories
HARRIS PARK – The Umatilla County Sheriff’s Office, Milton-Freewater Fire Department, and Umatilla County Search and Rescue were activated Sunday afternoon when it was reported that a woman had been swept away in the Walla Walla River near Harris Park, about 14 miles southeast of Milton-Freewater.
While deputies were still traveling to the scene, they learned the woman had made it to the bank in some bushes but was still in extreme danger with the current moving very fast. When they arrived one deputy contacted citizens who were attempting a rescue, he retrieved a climbing rope from his vehicle and they had the woman secure it around her body.
That deputy, fire department personnel, and a private citizen worked together pulling her from the water safely, according to a news release from the sheriff’s office. She was secured to a backboard and carried to a cot. MFFD had already called Life Flight so she was loaded onboard and taken to a critical care facility. Another woman who was attempting to rescue the first, was also injured. She was treated by medics on the scene.
Photo: MyCB file photo of the Walla Walla River at Harris Park
