16 deaths in Oregon, including 2 in Jackson County, under investigation as heat-related

Published 3:00 pm Friday, July 12, 2024

Three more people who died in Oregon in recent days are likely the victims of excessive heat, bringing the number of suspected heat-related deaths during this month’s record-setting high temperatures to 16 across seven counties, including two men in Jackson County, the state medical examiner said Friday.

The latest deaths to be reported are a 74-year-old woman and a 76-year-old man who died in Douglas County and a 62-year-old man who died in Southwest Portland, according to the Oregon State Medical Examiner’s Office.

A Klamath County case is no longer included in the death toll. The person died of another cause, the agency said.

The heat death designations are preliminary and medical examiners have yet to confirm the exact causes of death.

The medical examiner’s office has declined to say whether any of the deaths occurred at a work site or indoors or outdoors. Authorities also have declined to say whether any of the victims had access to cooling equipment.

The Oregon Occupational Safety and Health Division (OSHA), which investigates workplace fatalities, referred one case — the death of a U.S. Forest Service worker near Bly in Klamath County — to its federal counterpart because it isn’t within the state’s jurisdiction, said spokesperson Aaron Corvin. The state medical examiner said it could not confirm whether it was the same case its office had removed. The Klamath County medical examiner did not return a call for comment.

OSHA has received no other reports or information indicating work-related heat deaths, Corvin said.

Here’s who has died and when, according to the state medical examiner.

An 87-year-old man in Northeast Portland on July 5

A 33-year-old Clackamas County man died at a Portland hospital on July 6

A 54-year-old man in Jackson County on July 6

A 64-year-old man in Southeast Portland on July 7

A 33-year-old man in Coos County on July 7

A 75-year-old man in Southeast Portland on July 7

A 67-year-old woman in Northeast Portland on July 8

A 72-year-old man in North Portland on July 9

An 83-year-old man in Beaverton on July 9

A 55-year-old man in Jackson County on July 10

An 87-year-old man in Hillsboro on July 10

A 56-year-old man in Linn County on July 10

A 73-year-old woman in Beaverton on July 10

A 74-year-old woman in Douglas County on July 10

A 76-year-old man in Douglas County on July 10

A 62-year-old man in Southwest Portland on July 11

In 2021, a heat dome killed about 100 Oregonians, including 69 in Multnomah County. Eight people died of overheating in 2022 in Multnomah County and three are suspected to have died due to heat last year. Most of the people who died in past heat waves were men who died at home and did not have an air conditioner or other cooling equipment.

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