Man rescued from Black River in downtown Springfield

A man was rescued from a rock in the middle of the Black River in downtown Springfield on Tuesday morning after he had apparently jumped into the frigid and racing river from the Fellows footbridge.
http://rutlandherald.com/article/20140416/NEWS02/704249924

Rescue workers approach a man stuck on a rock in the middle of the swift moving Black River in Springfield on Tuesday. Below, the man, covered in a blanket is taken to safety. Photo: PHOTOS BY LEN EMERYPublished April 16, 2014 in the Rutland Herald Man rescued from Black River in downtown Springfield By SUSAN SMALLHEER Staff Writer SPRINGFIELD — A man was rescued from a rock in the middle of the Black River in downtown Springfield on Tuesday morning after he had apparently jumped into the frigid and racing river from the Fellows footbridge, a short distance upstream. The man, identified by Police Chief Douglas Johnston as Duncan K. Holley, was taken to Springfield Hospital after the two-hour rescue, and Fire Chief Russell Thompson said later in the day he didn’t have information on his condition. When Holley was put onto a stretcher by the Springfield ambulance crew around 9 a.m., he was shivering uncontrollably. He was barefoot and looked distraught. While the air temperature was 60 in a light rain, the river was estimated to be 40 degrees or lower. The 7:19 a.m. emergency prompted a regional response, as Springfield does not have swiftwater rescue equipment, and Hartford’s Swiftwater Response was called in. Taking over the large parking lot along River Street near the water, rescue workers from the two towns worked to set up a series of aerial ropes before putting a pontoon boat into the swollen river, and letting the boat float down the river to reach the man. Thompson said firefighters stationed on the far bank of the Black River had set up communications with Holley, who was sitting on a rock in the river with his head bowed into his pulled up knees. Thompson said the firefighters talked to Holley to keep him from jumping back into the river, which, close to the rescue scene, becomes a series of rapids and narrows that leads into the dangerous Comtu Falls. The chief said at one point the wind kicked up making communication with Holley more difficult. Shortly before 9 a.m., the Hartford rescue workers were ready and put their boat into the river, and quickly reached the man. They tossed him a personal flotation device, and as the gathered crowd held its breath, he climbed into the boat. He was quickly wrapped in blankets and brought to shore. The scene of the downtown drama, which was witnessed by dozens of people, is next to the Springfield Health Center. Several employees from Health Care and Rehabilitative Services were on the scene, working with the emergency workers, and sources said Holley was a resident of a residential home run by HCRS a short distance away from the river. A spokeswoman at HCRS headquarters in Springfield said that any information about clients was confidential. Hartford Fire Chief Steven Locke, who oversaw the swiftwater rescue, said his seven-man crew was a regional asset funded by the state, and typically does about two rescues a year in the region. Thompson, who said he had 15 firefighters at the scene, said that some states, such as Colorado, allowed for communities to bill for rescues, but that Vermont was not one of them.