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January 13, 2012 in News, City
Man rescued from Spokane River downtown
Crews rescue a man from the Spokane River in Riverfront Park today.
(Full-size photo)
Crews rescued a man from the Spokane River in Riverfront Park today.
The man was pulled from the river about 12:20 p.m. after rescuers responded to reports of a man hanging onto a rope in the water west of the Looff Carrousel, said Spokane Fire Chief Bobby Williams.
“We don’t know where he came from or how he got there,” Williams said.
Avista Utilities closed water gates in the area to stop the current and prevent the man from being sucked under, which would have lodged him against a gate opening and “made it impossible to get him out,” Williams said.
Dozens of people stood by as rescuers used inflatable kayaks to reach the man and help transport him to a raft.
He was transported to a hospital for evaluation. His injuries were not immediately known, but they were not life threatening.
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valleyman on January 13 at 1:42 p.m.
Apparently a member of ‘Occupy Spokane’ decided they needed to take a bath… That or this was a citizen re-enacting former Mayor Verner’s soaking of the taxpayers…
drywitt99 on January 13 at 1:54 p.m.
Or a ‘bagger looking to make a little iced tea???
force_vector on January 13 at 2:24 p.m.
Somehow, in a situation where a man could have easily lost his life had he been unable to hold onto the rope, the first two comments include “occupy” and “bagger”. Have we really become that pathetic?
misjustice on January 13 at 2:46 p.m.
I’m glad that rescue workers were able to get this individual to safety. Wonder how/why he ended up in the river? A little too cold for a swim…
drywitt99 on January 13 at 3:12 p.m.
pathetic????
Valleyman…..maybe….
Me…..not so much….
valleyman on January 13 at 3:16 p.m.
Cute drywitt… Just when I thought you’d be able to avoid taking a cheap shot…
As for force_vector - nothing like trying to make a light of a bad situation. Sorry your sensibilities were so offended…
drywitt99 on January 13 at 3:38 p.m.
Sorry……. :(
force_vector on January 13 at 3:46 p.m.
It’s not about sensibilities. It’s about making everything into an excuse to show political opinion. If you guys have somehow replaced human compassion with robotic partisan opinion, well, enjoy a long life full of back and forth cheap shots. I’m sure that it’ll be very fulfilling and meaningful.
drywitt99 on January 13 at 4:00 p.m.
@force_vector:
Sorry I lack the “human compassion” of the teabaggers who called for the uninsured to die.
http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2011/09/tea-party-debate-audience-cheered-idea-of-letting-uninsured-patients-die/
Perhaps encountering such stupidity as being openly accepted by the Party of Lincoln has warped my sense of humor.
valleyman on January 13 at 4:02 p.m.
@f_v: Someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning…
I’m not sure how making a statement about the smell of Occupy camps or commenting on the very transparent (and not partisan in the least) efforts of former Mayor Verner to hose the taxpayers one last time has any bearing on political cheap shots.
I even chuckled a little at drywitt99’s witticism. I found it cheeky and clever. That was all I was going for myself…
force_vector on January 13 at 4:05 p.m.
“@f_v: Someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning…”
Nah, left side, same as always. Oh sh!t, does that make me a liberal?
drywitt99 on January 13 at 4:05 p.m.
@valleyman: Just “a little??”
I’ll try harder in the future. :)
misjustice on January 13 at 7:30 p.m.
“Nah, left side, same as always. Oh sh!t, does that make me a liberal?”
Nope…just a man of habit.
; )
8ball on January 14 at 11:33 a.m.
I observed the rescue. I love an appropriate response by public servants to citizens in need of help.
In this case, there must have been $5 million dollars in equipment and human assets on the scene: quite a few fire trucks (including a skyscraper ladder truck), the river rescue crews (probably from fire and police), rubber rafts and boats, at least a dozen and probably more marked and unmarked police vehicles, ambulances galore and paramedics, and a battalion of police and fire commanders, detectives, and street officers. And, not to forget them, contingents from AVISTA and city Parks personnel.
A happy outcome: the drunk was pulled from the river.
In a similar vein: do we really need ladder trucks to respond with Fire paramedics for health emergency calls? Somebody is paying for all the uncoordinated over response. In my travels outside of the U.S., I have not seen this kind of massive response to minor incidents like I see over and over again here.
Maybe in the salad days of yore when we had plenty of $$$$$ to burn it became acceptable without thought, but, unfortuneately, not now.
AnalyzeThat on January 15 at 8:31 p.m.
8ball hits it on the head - what a waste of city resources. All the loonies around this town need to memorize the number for the Mental Health clinic!
brianrbreen on January 25 at 7:56 p.m.
According to the most recent SPD Accountability Information Management Report (AIM), a system that was introduced to increase accountability and provide the public with some type of resource for knowing what the SPD was doing by allowing citizens to keep track via the internet, this along with being a good rescue, was also a “MEDIA CIRCUS” what ever that is.
Gosh…and I don’t even see Tom Clouse or Doug Clark having a byline, I wonder who made it a “MEDIA CIRCUS”, and how much the tickets were.
Other Notable Incidents
“Officers responded with SFD to Riverfront Park where a male was hooked mid-river on a rope and was significantly hypothermic and non-responsive. In the ensuing media circus, the male was rescued by boat, warmed up at the hospital, and booked for his outstanding Assault/DV warrant”.
http://www.spokanepolice.org/documents/011812%20Public%20AIM%20WrapUp.pdf