Get information on Clark County parks, with or without beaches, at www.vanclarkparks-rec.org.
Parks officials are preaching water safety this summer, and drownings took at least four lives, including that of a Vancouver man, in the area over the weekend.
Clark County has no lifeguards at its parks. Yet hundreds flocked to the Columbia River on Sunday.
Parents need to be particularly careful when bringing their children to the Columbia, said Jilayne Jordan, a spokeswoman for Clark County.
Get information on Clark County parks, with or without beaches, at www.vanclarkparks-rec.org.
And some parents were heeding that admonition on Sunday at Wintler Park.
“We never turn our back on the water,” said Kathy Gillis of Vancouver. She was playing in ankle-deep water with her son, Jacob, 5. who was wearing a life jacket.
“A life jacket is a must,” said Jasmine Alayadhi of Vancouver who had her daughter, Reem, 5, in a Barbie life jacket. “They’re not getting far (into the river) at all.”
Nearby, 10-year-old Pedro Albuquerque of Vancouver was about 20 yards off shore in a rubber raft. He was not wearing a life jacket.
“He knows how to swim really well,” said Pedro’s mother, Berenice Albuquerque. “He can stand up out there. … I watch him.”
Jordan said drownings mar every summer.
“Educate yourself about whether you want to swim in the Columbia,” Jordan said. “It can be quite treacherous.”
In June 2009, 19-year-old William Small drowned near Frenchman’s Bar Regional Park on the Columbia. He was a 2008 Skyview High School graduate.
• On Friday, the body of a man wearing diving gear was found drowned near the boat ramp at Northeast 42nd Avenue and Marine Drive in Portland. Officials did not release a name, but reliable sources said the victim was 30-year-old Andrew Zagariya of Vancouver.
• Officials reported that a 4-year-old boy drowned Saturday at Rooster Rock Park on the Columbia in Multnomah County. The child’s name was not released.
• Also, a 24-year-old man, Jordyn Connors of Silver Lake, drowned Saturday in the Toutle River in Cowlitz County, according to county officials.
• On Friday night, the body of a 55-year-old man was discovered drowned in the Willamette River. A name was not released.
