The Fraser River had the deadliest record of all B.C. rivers over the last decade with 53 accidental drowning deaths, according to the BC Coroners Service.
One of those fatalities on the Fraser was Donald Alarie of Chilliwack, whose obituary just over a year ago in the Chilliwack Progress said "Donald loved to fish more than sleep."
Friends and family had told police that Alarie had been heading out to fish but he never returned home. His dog, cigarettes and boat fuel were left behind on the river bank.
Alarie's body was recovered from the water in Mission five days after he went missing on July 21, 2024, but not his boat. Police say his death was not considered suspicious.
His case became one of the 98 accidental drownings in B.C. that turned fatal in 2024. More than half of that number were during the summer months. The 2024 total was down from 2023's total of 119 drowning deaths.
The just released coroners' report focuses on the data from 2014 to 2024.
The Fraser River saw the highest number of reported drowning deaths (53) among B.C. rivers. In terms of B.C. lakes, Okanagan Lake saw (28) fatalities, Harrison Lake (12), Cultus Lake (5), and Alouette Lake (5).
A drowning prevention initiative, Kids Don't Float, was brought to Cultus Lake last year by a seasonal policing officer and RCMP boat operator at Cultus Lake, where life jackets are loaned out for free from a kiosk at Main Beach.
That water safety project came to fruition after several heart-wrenching drowning incidents were reported at the busy Cultus Lake in 2023, and the officer said that delivering the terrible news of a drowning death to the next of kin in these incidents was an excruciating part of an officer's job.
Most of the drowning deaths in 2024 were in the Interior Health region but Fraser Health had the second highest rate of deaths per 100,000 population last year.
Almost all were B.C. residents and 77 per cent of them were men. Adults aged 50 to 59 accounted for 20 per cent of those deaths followed by those aged 60-69 (15%) and 70+ (15%). About 40 per cent of the people who died by drowning had drugs or alcohol reportedly in their systems.
Most of the drowning deaths were in rivers or creeks (33%), or lakes/ponds (24%) with most occurring after an unintentional fall into the water
(22%), as well as swimming (18%), and bathing (14%).
