Rescue Crews Search For Man Who Fell Into Raging River Downtown
DENVER (CBS4) - Rescue crews from the Denver Fire Department braved raging water at Confluence Park Wednesday evening after getting reports that someone might be caught in the current.
Confluence Park is a familiar trouble spot when the rains hit, and Wednesday was no different as floodwaters swallowed up the sidewalks and bike paths.
Water increased by 6000 cubic feet per second after the rains.
Denver rescue crews spent most of the evening searching the rushing river after a man reportedly fell into Cherry Creek at Speer Boulevard and West Colfax Avenue.
Dive teams were set up at several bridges downstream in hopes of finding the man. They focused on shorelines, where he might have grabbed on to a branch, but made no sightings by the time night fell.
The search has been passed on to Adams County further downstream, whose fire chief said the conditions don't make the rescue promising.
"With the temperature of the water, and the speed of the water, the thing about it is, the water has risen to such a level that it's going through a lot of different areas that haven't really been cleared before. So there's so much debris that is floating in the water, that if he is still in the water at this time … yeah, the chances would be pretty far out there," said Troy Patterson.
This is the second time in the past week there's been a search for someone in the South Platte River.
