Lebanon Fire District Responds To Multiple Calls Including A Water Assist, Temporarily Depleting All Resources (Photo) - 08/04/26

Lebanon, Or. – August 4, 2026 – Lebanon Fire District experienced an exceptionally busy four-hour period Tuesday evening, responding to multiple simultaneous emergencies that temporarily committed all available personnel and apparatus.

The busy stretch began around 4:00 p.m. when a Lebanon Fire District ambulance transferred a patient from a hospital in Lebanon to one in Corvallis. While that ambulance was out of the district, firefighters responded to an odor investigation on Island Inn Drive and three separate medical emergencies. With all Lebanon ambulances committed, the Albany Fire Department responded under mutual aid and transported one patient to the hospital.

At approximately 5:45 p.m., crews were dispatched to a first-alarm water assist after a woman floating the South Santiam River on an inner tube was reported significantly overdue for arriving at Gill's Landing. The incident required all available Lebanon Fire District apparatus, career personnel, and volunteer firefighters.

Firefighters immediately launched the district's drone to search the river corridor from the air while another team deployed a rescue raft upstream to search the waterway. The Linn County Sheriff's Office responded with its rescue watercraft, personnel, and drone to assist with the extensive search effort.

While the water rescue operation was underway, another call developed when Lebanon Fire District received an emergent interfacility transfer to Corvallis. Fortunately, the ambulance that had completed the earlier transfer had just returned to the district and was immediately dispatched again. An emergent transfer is one in which physicians determine a patient requires rapid transport to a higher level of care, often with the ambulance transporting code 3 using lights and sirens.

Before the water rescue concluded, two additional medical emergencies were dispatched. One patient was transported by Sweet Home Fire and Ambulance District under mutual aid, while Lebanon Fire District crews responded to a serious injury motor vehicle crash.

Approximately 2½ hours after the initial water rescue call, the incident concluded with the best possible outcome when the missing woman was located safe at a friend's residence.

Lebanon Fire District would like to thank our mutual aid partners, the Albany Fire Department and Sweet Home Fire and Ambulance District, for providing ambulance coverage during this exceptionally busy period. We also extend our appreciation to the Linn County Sheriff's Office for providing personnel, a rescue watercraft, and drone resources that were instrumental in the search effort.

As river recreation continues throughout the summer, Lebanon Fire District reminds everyone to develop a clear plan before entering the river. Always know where you will enter and exit, communicate those plans with family or friends, and notify others immediately if those plans change. Most importantly, wear a properly fitted life jacket whenever you are on the water.

To help keep river users safe, Lebanon Fire District provides three life jacket loaner stations- two located at Waterloo Park and one at Gill's Landing- where visitors can borrow life jackets at no cost before heading onto the river. Photo credit goes to Corbin Henderson.