Man rescued after Long Bridge jump

SAGLE - Firefighters from Sagle and Sandpoint rescued a man from the Pend Oreille River after he jumped off the Long Bridge early Friday morning.

Selkirk Fire Rescue & EMS Chief Ron Stocking said a couple driving across the bridge shortly before 2:30 a.m. There was an argument, which apparently prompted the vehicle to stop.

The male got out and leapt from the west side of the span, Stocking said.

Ron Knapp of Sandpoint Taxi was heading south across the bridge at the end of his shift and encountered the couple's vehicle. It was stopped in the northbound breakdown lane with its hazard lights flashing.

Knapp said he saw the male cross the southbound lane of travel and plunge into the river.

"He went feet-first," said Knapp.

Knapp and the woman called down to the man, but got no response. Law enforcement and firefighters were summoned to the scene.

Stocking said the man was found clinging to a bridge piling about 200 yards north of the south end of the Long Bridge. A life jacket was lowered to him as firefighters launched an inflatable Zodiac vessel at 41 South's docks so he could be rescued.

"He had no obvious injuries other than being extremely cold," said Stocking.

The whole rescue operation took about 40 minutes, according to Stocking.

Knapp said the woman told him that they got into an argument while driving from Kootenai County.

"They were arguing. They had been drinking," said Knapp.

It's the second water rescue Selkirk has conducted this year. Firefighters rescued two kayakers who overturned in the river off Sandpoint in April.