Paddleboarder drowns on Willamette River near Oakridge
Justin Daniel Brudvig drowned while paddleboarding near Black Canyon Campground without a life jacket, in the second Willamette River death tied to Lane County in one week.
A 26-year-old Oregon City man drowned while paddleboarding on the Willamette River near Black Canyon Campground outside Oakridge after going in without a life jacket. Lane County deputies and Oakridge Fire personnel responded at about 3:20 p.m. after a caller reported the drowning.
The man was identified as Justin Daniel Brudvig, 26. He died July 18 near Black Canyon Campground, a stretch along the Middle Fork of the Willamette River about 8 miles west of Oakridge on Highway 58.
The Lane County Sheriff's Office said Brudvig had been paddleboarding without a life jacket and reminded people to wear a properly fitting life jacket anytime they are using Lane County waterways. That warning lands hard in a summer corridor where paddleboards, kayaks and campers crowd the river near Oakridge and other access points.
The death was the second Willamette River drowning in the area in less than a week. Another 26-year-old man died in a separate paddleboarding incident on the river in Lane County on July 14, adding to concern around one of the county's busiest warm-weather recreation spots.
Black Canyon Campground draws steady traffic because of its river access and location near Oakridge, but the setting leaves little room for error when people get on the water without flotation. The gap between a quick outing and a fatal emergency can be small, especially when rescue crews must reach the scene from nearby fire and sheriff's resources.
For Lane County residents and visitors headed to the Willamette, the circumstances in Brudvig's death are stark: a paddleboard, open river water, no life jacket, and a response that came after the emergency was already underway. The Sheriff's Office said anyone using Lane County waterways should wear a properly fitting life jacket every time.
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