Firefighters search for man who reportedly fell in Spokane River near downtown dam

Firefighters spent an hour Tuesday morning searching for a man who reportedly fell into the Spokane River near the Post Street bridge.

Crews responding to a 911 call shortly before 8 a.m. found a man on the bridge who was disoriented and hypothermic, Battalion Chief Craig Cornelius said. The man said he and a friend had fallen into the river just above the hydroelectric dam near the Washington Water Power building, but firefighters found no sign of a second man.

“He said he had a friend that went in the water last night,” Cornelius said. “There’s no indications at this time that we have anyone in the water.”

The man was taken to a local hospital for treatment. Crews scoured the rocks and checked the grates of the hydroelectric dam before calling off the search at about 9 a.m.

Cornelius said a person couldn’t survive long in the frigid water.