Firefighter: Willamette rescue was 'most dangerous' of career

PORTLAND, Ore. – Firefighters, two fishermen and a bicyclist teamed up to rescue a man struggling in the cold, fast-moving waters of the Willamette River late Wednesday night.

Portland firefighters said cyclist Dan Sinclair was riding down the Eastbank Esplanade at about 11:15 p.m. Wednesday when he heard cries for help coming from the river and spotted a man struggling in the water about 25 yards from shore.
 
Firefighters said two other men, Sam Policar and Justin Wisdom, were sturgeon fishing from shore nearby and also saw the man in the water. Policar and Wisdom attempted to hook onto the man with their fishing lines to pull him to shore while Sinclair went to nearby Fire Station 21, which is located along the esplanade near the Hawthorne Bridge.

The crew on duty immediately took action to pull the man from the water, which is running fast, cold and at high levels following a week of heavy rain and snow in the Northwest. They also alerted other firefighters to launch a boat into the Willamette River from the Old Town area.

Meanwhile, the river’s current pushed the struggling man closer to shore.  Wisdom took off his coat, poked one of his coat sleeves through a fence and the man was able to grab on the sleeve, firefighters said. But he was not yet out of danger.

Rescue Craft 1, with driver Mike Held aboard, came alongside the man. Bill Schimel, a Portland Fire & Rescue veteran, spotted the man in the water where Wisdom was struggling to keep ahold of him.

Schimel struggled to hang onto the man and pull him to safety in the swift current.  As the boat drifted along with the current, Held asked Policar to steady the boat from shore while he helped Schimel pull the man onto the rescue craft.

"I knew that if I lost my grip on him, he would drift under a massive debris field of logs that was floating just 100 yards downstream and likely be pulled under," said Schimel.  "In my 12 years as a firefighter, this was the most dangerous rescue I’ve ever taken part in."

Firefighters and paramedics gave aid to the unidentified man back at Fire Station 21 and he was taken to Oregon Health and Science University. Firefighters said they don't know how the man, who they said was in his 30s, ended up in the water.

The rescue comes several days after search and rescue teams were unsuccessful in finding a 6-year-old girl who fell into the Clackamas River on Jan. 22. The girl was playing in snow near the river when she fell into the water, according to her parents.

The search has been suspended and so far, she has not been found. Northwest rivers are running fast and extremely cold at this time due to recent heavy rain and melting snow.