Eugene Springfield Fire responded to a distress call Saturday evening after people floating the McKenzie River were trapped by a log in the middle of the river.
With the arrival of unseasonably hot weather over Memorial Day weekend, people have flocked to the cool comforts of the Mckenzie and Willamette rivers, but increased amounts of trees and branches in the river from wildfire debris has heightened dangers for outdoor recreation this summer. Where people can get themselves in trouble is when they get on a waterway they don t know, they don t have life jackets or they re not prepared for the currents or the situation that they enter, said Randy Henry, boating safety program manager for the Oregon State Marine Board, or OSMB. That s where we see the bulk of the fatalities.