News Release

Visitor Fatality in Olympic National Park

Date: September 1, 2022
Contact: Meagan Huff, Public Information Officer, [phone]

PORT ANGELES, Wash. – On the evening of Aug. 30, 2022, Olympic National Park received notice through an inReach device of a visitor fatality that occurred at Elk Lake, a remote wilderness campsite. It was reported that a tree fell on a tent while it was occupied by a 34-year-old Canadian citizen named Thomas Bernier-Villeneuve. The National Park Service reached the scene by helicopter on the morning of Aug. 31, 2022. The deceased was transferred to the Jefferson County Coroner's Office.