Rescue at bridge

Mason County emergency responders rescued a teenager who fell by the High Steel Bridge on Saturday, May 25.

The 19-year-old man was apparently hiking in the closed area underneath the bridge and fell 400 feet down the side of the canyon, according to the Mason County Sheriff’s office.

“Thanks to the dedicated efforts of our Special Operations Rescue Team, he was rescued and sustained only minimal injuries,” MCSO said in a Facebook post.

MCSO, West Mason Fire and Fire District 6 assisted in the rescue.

The post shows a rescuer pulling himself and the teenager up to the bridge using a harness and ropes.

In April, Fire District 6 Assistant Chief Cody Daggett ran a search and rescue training at the bridge where attendees practiced for just such a rescue.

At the time, Daggett pointed to several narrow paths that plunge straight down alongside the bridge.

“People try to go down the trails and end up slipping and going to the bottom,” he said.

Daggett told the Journal it was the “exact spot” where the teenager fell Saturday.

He was checked out by EMT workers at the scene and “only suffered bruising,” Daggett said.

It took the team about 30 minutes to hoist the young man up.

“It was a pretty great rescue,” Daggett said.