KDRV Staff
 
October 9, 2009
 
GRANTS PASS, Ore. - On the same day that the Rogue River became free flowing through the channel at Savage Rapids, a man has reportedly died there in a boat accident.
 
According to Grants Pass Sheriff Gil Gilbertson. the man was driving one of the first boats that went through the stretch of river after Savage Rapids Dam was breached Friday. Gilbertson says the accident occurred right at the site where the dam once stood.
 
Gilbertson says the man took six trips Friday through the section in a jet boat. On the last trip, his boat hit a rock and flipped. Three other passengers in the boat, including the man's son, escaped the accident. They were taken to Three Rivers Hospital in Grants Pass and treated for minor injuries.
 
Savage Rapids Dam is in the final stages of being removed, and Friday was the first day in which that section was allowed to flow freely. On Friday morning crews removed the final temporary coffer dam from Savage Rapids Dam. The dam was built in 1921.