A 16-year-old drowned in the Columbia River near Vancouver’s Frenchman’s Bar Regional Park on Wednesday evening, officials said.
The teen was swimming about 20 yards offshore when he “suddenly went underwater and failed to surface,” witnesses reported, according to Clark County Fire District 6.
“Conditions in the Columbia River at Frenchman’s Bar are known to be treacherous, and authorities urge caution for those who choose to swim there,” the fire agency said in a statement. “The current is swift in this section of the river and there is a large drop-off just offshore.”
Multiple local fire and police agencies, as well as the U.S. Coast Guard, responded to a report of a possible drowning, and the search-and-rescue effort included four boats, seven rescue swimmers and a helicopter.
Clark County Fire District 6 said that, “despite a herculean effort,” the search-and-rescue operation turned to a recovery phase at around 9 p.m. The agency did not say whether a body had been recovered and did not release the teen swimmer’s name.
©2025 Advance Local Media LLC. Visit oregonlive.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
