Woman rescued after jump from Monroe bridge

A woman was rescued from the Spokane River this morning after jumping from the Monroe Street Bridge about 10:20 a.m. Spokane firefighters and police officers scoured the river below the bridge before spotting her along the steep north bank of the river about 200 yards downstream from the Maple Street bridge. Rescuers in a pontoon boat brought her to safety shortly after 11 a.m. The incident started on the downstream railing of the Monroe Street Bridge where police officers tried to talk to the apparently despondent woman, but were unsuccessful. After she jumped, the officers raced from the bridge and headed down stream to determine whether she survived the plunge and her location. She landed in the center of the river and quickly drifted downstream, although the current in the river is still running at a low autumn level. Rescuers reported by radio that they had seen her head bobbing in the water. She came up to the bank along a rugged riverbank strip of conservation land. Four emergency personnel, including two police officers and a firefighter, reached the woman off an old road grade and pulled her up to the bank. The fire department dispatched its water rescue team with kayaks and a pontoon boat and went across the river from a launch site on the south side of the river. The launch is at the west end of Water Avenue in Peaceful Valley. They used water craft to bring her back across the river to the launch site and a waiting ambulance.