Ian Christmann was working from home on Wednesday afternoon when he and his son heard shouting from the Fair Haven side of the Quinnipiac River. “We grabbed our binoculars [and] looked out the window,” Christmann said. Behind the fence lining the Quinnipiac River Park seawall, “it looked l ike someone was holding a jacket over the railing. And there was someone in the water trying to grab on.” So for the second time in his life, Christmann raced over to his kayak, scooped up a few life jackets, and began to paddle to a person in the river trying to stay afloat. Christmann launched the kayak from his neighbor’s backyard on the Fair Haven Heights side of the river. By the time he paddled across to the Fair Haven side, by the Ferry Street bridge, the New Haven Fire Department had arrived. At around 2:30 p.m., the Fire Department deployed 18 firefighters on two rescue boats to reach the man: a larger boat, Marine One, that typically stations in Long Wharf and a smaller boat, Marine Three, that’s located in Fair Haven. The Fire Department’s Marine Three boat came to the rescue. It was the smaller boat, Marine Three, that was best positioned to navigate the river and reach the man first. “They did a very good job at executing the rescue,” said Fire Chief Dan Coughlin. He praised Battalion Chief Wayne Vetre, who “made sure he covered all of his bases” by sending two boats with different capabilities to the scene. According to Coughlin, the man — about 40 years old — had jumped off of the Grand Avenue Bridge. He may have been inebriated or otherwise cognitively impaired, Coughlin said; it wasn’t immediately clear what the circumstances were. “Once he was in the water, he was having trouble staying afloat,” said Coughlin. “You get some really bad currents in that area.” After he was rescued, according to Coughlin, the man was taken to the hospital for “minor injuries.” Ascertaining that he didn’t need to assist, Christmann documented the rescue in photographs. He thought back to the last time he kayaked to someone stranded in the river, 15 years ago. One night in 2011, Christmann heard shouting from the very same part of the seawall. The lights of emergency vehicles flashed from across the river, where one firefighter was preparing to jump in. After confirming with police that a woman was at risk of drowning, Christmann grabbed his kayak. He paddled across the river and pulled the woman onto the boat. Police and firefighters helped pull her up to land in the Quinnipiac River Park. The woman, it turned out, had jumped into the river while fleeing an attacker. She was pregnant at the time. Ian Christmann with his kayak in 2011. (Thomas MacMillan Photo) Christmann has lived by the Quinnipiac River for 25 years. He regularly hears about incidents of drowning. He has noticed new memorial candles in the park, year after year, for people who died in the river. People may end up in the river intentionally or accidentally. The park is a fishing spot, Christmann noted. “I’ve seen people, when they catch a big fish, they’ll jump over the rail with a net of sorts, to try to lift it.” According to Coughlin, the fire department rescues people from the Quinnipiac River “a couple of times a year.” Currently, there’s little for a person to grasp onto when they’re by the seawall and struggling to stay afloat. Climbing out of the river is even harder at low tide, when the gap between the water level and the ground level is steepest. “The wall’s about 10 feet tall at low tide,” Christmann said. “It’s a treacherous area, because there’s no way to self-rescue,” he said. Christmann believes that the city should install some sort of hand rail, ladder, or “emergency gripping points” along the seawall. That way, people who end up in the river would have a way of climbing out — or at least, holding on until rescuers can come. If you or someone you know needs support now, you are not alone. Call or text 988, or chat at 988lifeline.org, for the national suicide and crisis lifeline. The post Firefighters Rescue Man From Q River; Kayaker Races To Help, Again appeared first on New Haven Independent. ...read more read less