A Manchester, Tennessee, man has died while paddling on the Barren Fork River near downtown McMinnville, Tennessee.
Corey Blake Phillips, 48, along with two other men, was paddling down the Barren Fork River in the area of Rocket Park around 11 a.m. CDT Saturday, wildlife officials said in a press release. After a brief stop, Phillips fell out of the boat and was unresponsive.
Phillips’ fellow paddlers called 911, officials said in the press release, and Warren County EMS and the county’s rescue squad responded to take Phillips to Ascension Saint Thomas River Park Hospital in McMinnville. The cause of Phillips’ death was not described.
(READ MORE: Life jackets, sober captains top topics for Safe Boating Week)
Phillips’ death marks the 10th boating-related fatality of the year, according to agency records. By July 4, 2025, 13 people had died in boating-related incidents in Tennessee. There were a total of 26 boating-related fatalities in 2025, an increase from 22 in 2024.
The body of water in Tennessee with the most fatal incidents in 2025 was Norris Lake, with four, according to records. Norris Lake also led the state in 2025 in total boating incidents, with 18 incidents reported.
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Since 1965, when two deaths were reported, Tennessee has averaged 22 boating-related fatalities a year, records show. The highest number of boating fatalities occurred in 1973, when 47 people died.
Since 2000, the highest number of boating-related deaths was in 2004 and 2020, when 31 people died in each of those years, records show. The fewest over the same period occurred in 2019, when eight people died.
— Compiled by Ben Benton