North Tillamook County First Responders were busy with two tragic calls yesterday, November 18, 2024. While local fire and EMS crews were frantically fighting a fully involved structure fire in Wheeler and extricating an 83-year-old female victim who was trapped in the house, Tillamook 911 dispatched another emergency call just up the road at the North County Recreation District in Nehalem.
“The fire call came in at 11:33 am,” said TCSO Deputy Chris Rondeau. “Then at 12:47 pm, just as Tillamook Ambulance crews were rushing the fire victim to the hospital, the call of an unconscious/not breathing man at NCRD came in. Personnel from Cannon Beach Fire Department, that had responded to assist with the fire, were able to break away and respond to NCRD while local fire personnel continued to fight the Wheeler fire.”
In the NCRD incident, a 68-year-old Nehalem man was swimming laps in the pool when the lifeguard noticed he had stopped and was not moving.
“The lifeguard pulled the man from the pool with the assistance of other staff. They began CPR and used an Automated External Defibrillator (AED) and called 911,” said Deputy Rondeau. “When fire personnel arrived on scene, they continued to work on the man for over a half hour, but unfortunately, they were unable to resuscitate him.” Tragically, the elderly female Wheeler fire victim also succumbed to her injuries at the hospital.
TCSO does not release the victims’ names.