Man rescued from tree in Spokane River at Kendall Yards

A man was rescued from a tree on the edge of the Spokane River in Kendall Yards Tuesday afternoon.

Someone called 911 shortly before noon to report hearing a man yelling for help.

“He was in a tree about 10 feet from shore,” said Spokane Police Officer Josh Laiva.

The man initially refused to come out of the tree but then changed his mind, Laiva said. The Spokane Fire Department’s technical rescue team went down the hill, loaded the man into a gurney and used ropes to pull him up the steep slope.

It was not immediately apparent how the man, who wasn’t wearing many clothes, ended up in the tree. “He is not making a lot of sense right now,” Laiva said. “He gave a couple random statements as to how he got down there.”

The man is known to police, Laiva said. He was swearing as he was taken to an ambulance to be transported to a local hospital.