Accident in Clear Lake, Oregon

[violamama]

Forest Grove scuba diver dies in Clear Lake | KOIN.com

"PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — A Forest Grove man drowned while scuba diving at Clear Lake, the Linn County Sheriff’s Office said.

James Paul Ward was diving in the lake near the Santiam Pass with friends from Forest Grove, Christopher Baggarley and his son Todd Baggarley.


The three were diving when Ward let them know around 10 a.m. he was going to surface. The Baggarleys continued their dive and surfaced about 20 minutes later.


But Ward wasn’t on the shore or at their cabin, officials said. The Baggarleys called parks personnel for help.


Divers from the Sweet Home Fire Department found Ward’s body about 40 feet underwater about 100 yards north of the Clear Lake Lodge. Officials said his scuba tank still had about 2000 pounds of air and his equipment did not appear to malfunction.


Ward, 49, was described as an experienced diver.


An investigation is underway."

 

[JohnN]

The Linn County Sheriff's Office is investigating the death of a diver at Clear Lake, located northwest of Bend near Santiam Pass. According to a press release, the sheriff's office received a 911 call at 12:23 p.m. Sunday, March 2, reporting that three men had been scuba diving but one did not surface.
James Paul Ward, 49, of Forest Grove, was diving with his friend Christopher Baggarley, 46, of Banks, and his 24-year-old son Todd Baggarley, also of Forest Grove.
The three men were diving together in the lake at about 10 a.m. when Ward signaled he was about to surface. The Baggarleys saw Ward start to ascend, and didn't see any sign of distress. Ward is described as an experienced diver.
The Baggarleys continued their dive for about 20 minutes before ascending. When they surfaced, Ward was missing.
After searching for Ward on the shore and at their cabin, they contacted Linn County Parks & Recreation personnel at the nearby resort. Because of spotty cell phone coverage, the employee had to drive to the U.S. 20 junction to call 911.

Divers with the Sweet Home Fire & Ambulance District found Ward's body around 2:30 p.m. about 100 yards north of Clear Lake Lodge. The water temperature was 39 degrees. Ward's scuba tank still contained about 2,000 pounds of air, and his dive equipment didn't show signs of malfunctioning.

Ward's body was taken to AAsum-Dufour Funeral Home in Albany.

The investigation is ongoing.

-- Anna Marum

 

[violamama]

Just a newbie question: would there be evidence after the fact if his reg froze up? Would his tank be empty? Do they always free flow when that happens or can they also freeze with the diaphragm blocking the flow or something?

(This question just came to mind and may have almost nothing to do with this particular tragedy.)

 

[paulw]

Very sad for both the family and his dive buddies. I can't imagine the panic when his buddies realized he had not surfaced , very sad. I'll say a prayer for them all.

 

[Herb-alaska]

Just a newbie question: would there be evidence after the fact if his reg froze up? Would his tank be empty? Do they always free flow when that happens or can they also freeze with the diaphragm blocking the flow or something?

(This question just came to mind and may have almost nothing to do with this particular tragedy.)

Most regs fail in the open position and turn into a free flow which would have emptied his tank. An experienced diver should have been able to breath from a free flowing reg sufficiently to surface or to the end of his tank capacity. It sounds to me like it was probably medical and that maybe he was not feeling well turned his dive and not feeling well turned into something a lot bigger. We probably wont ever hear what happened and the authorities won't know until after the autopsy checks for a medical issue.

Sad day in OR diving.

 

[violamama]

Most regs fail in the open position and turn into a free flow which would have emptied his tank. An experienced diver should have been able to breath from a free flowing reg sufficiently to surface or to the end of his tank capacity. It sounds to me like it was probably medical and that maybe he was not feeling well turned his dive and not feeling well turned into something a lot bigger. We probably wont ever hear what happened and the authorities won't know until after the autopsy checks for a medical issue.

Sad day in OR diving.

Thanks, that's about what I thought.

He lived near us, was doing a dive we want to do in the next year, is in the same age decade, and even shared our last name. So sorry to hear about this.

 

[TONY CHANEY]

Very sad for both the family and his dive buddies. I can't imagine the panic when his buddies realized he had not surfaced , very sad. I'll say a prayer for them all.

What he said. Sorry to hear the sad news.

 

[PNW Dive Girl]

So sorry to hear of this. That lake is very cold but awesome diving.

I wonder what happened. So sorry for his friends and family.

 

[DivemasterDennis]

Very sad. There is no value to speculation, but the short report suggests strongly a medical issue- heart attack, stroke, or something. Condolences to the deceased's family and friends.
DivemasterDennis

 

[Randar]

Very sad...Condolences to the family and all involved.

I certainly hope this one accident does not become the impetus for the USFS to close Clear Lake to diving. I have probably 15-20 dives there including deep and night dives. It is (just barely) an altitude dive and typical water temps are 35-45 degrees. As indicated by several posts already, free flows are fairly common in rental or older style regs. Most newer regs do not have issues.

Anyone who wishes to dive clear lake, that has not done it before should at the very least go with someone who has and is familiar with the dive.

~R~