A jet ski trip on the Black River through Poplar Bluff Saturday morning proved more dangerous than one man expected.
Poplar Bluff Fire Department received a call at 10:56 a.m. saying a subject on a jet ski was hung up on the rip rap under Pine Boulevard bridge.
The riverbed has changed during construction to replace the two westbound lanes of the bridge over the river.
According to Battalion Chief Stacy Harmon, “A single victim was trapped in the rip rap and rebar on a jet ski in the middle of the Black River under the bridge.”
Poplar Bluff Fire Chief Mike Moffitt said, “I want to commend Capt. Chad Bell and Lt. Jon Miller. They did an excellent job maneuvering the boat around all the obstructions in the shallow water to rescue this victim and make sure everyone went home safe. Thankfully, we replaced our water rescue boat last year. Our old boat was not suited for shallow water use. We are also fortunate that our street department built a new boat ramp at Ray Clinton Park, downstream of our bridges. In this situation it was necessary to approach the trapped boater from downstream. The next boat ramp downstream is several miles and would have delayed our response.”
Firefighters along with the water rescue boat responded and made contact with the victim and could see that he was unable to get safely to shore, Harmon said.
The water rescue boat lauched downstream and firefighters were staged downstream with rescue rope throw bags in case the victim broke free before the boat arrived.
Two firefighters in the rescue boat were able to maneuver through the current and safely rescue the victim, Harmon said. There were no injuries to the victim and he was brought to shore. The crew went back and freed the trapped jet ski from the river and returned it to the owner. The victim refused medical treatment when the firefighters landed at Ray Clinton Park.
Butler County EMS and Poplar Bluff Police Department also responded to the scene.