Rescuers help injured man from riverbank

72-year-old man suffered leg injuries

Brian Schaeffer, Assistant Fire Chief, 509.625.7002

Wednesday, May 20, 2015 at 3:46 p.m.

Members of the Spokane Fire Department High Angle Rescue team, with the assistance of other rescuers, pulled an injured 72-year-old man from the steep banks of the Spokane River near the Post Street Bridge today.

Firefighters were called to the bridge at 9:47 am. Members of the Spokane Police Department and Riverfront Park Security were on scene, and helped remove the man from the river.

High Angle Rescue team members along with rescuers from three engines and a ladder truck utilized an aerial device and several ropes to safely extricate the man from the steep riverbank. He suffered from several abrasions and leg trauma, but was conversing with firefighters and police officers.

The man entered the river a few hundred yards upstream.