A 19-year-old man survived a fall into a 400-foot ravine beneath a popular bridge in Washington state over Memorial Day weekend, authorities said.
According to the Mascon County Sheriff’s Office, the man fell Saturday while attempting to walk under the High Steel Bridge, one of the tallest railroad bridges in the U.S. According to the Washington Trails Association (WTA), the bridge was built in 1929 by the Simpson Logging Company and converted into a road in the 1950s or 1960s.
“He was walking on a landslide that a lot of people use and it’s kind of a trail. It’s not a trail,” West Mason Fire Chief Matthew Welander told KING 5. “It’s a landslide and it’s too steep. And he went all the way down to the river and he slipped.”
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A teenage boy was rescued 400 feet below the High Steel Bridge in Washington state on Saturday. (Mason County Sheriff’s Office)
Fox News Digital reached out to authorities, and the boy, whose identity has not been released, only suffered minor injuries.
Images released by the sheriff’s office showed firefighters using ropes and harnesses to scale the bridge and free the boy.
“I put him in a harness and pulled him all the way up,” Welander said.
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A high steel bridge in Washington state. (Mason County Sheriff’s Office)
Officials said the area is known for its deceptive terrain and lack of respect for nature. Several warning signs are dotted near the ravine, including one that reads: “WARNING: Area around high railway bridge is slippery, steep and dangerous for exploring.”
“We practice getting bodies out of here a lot,” Welander said. “It’s probably a 20-to-1 ratio.”
He noted that rescue teams have to travel to the area about three to five times a year to carry out rescues.
A warning sign for visitors near the High Steel Bridge. (West Mason Fire Department)
“Two of the people we rescued were actually deputy sheriffs, but they ended up being flown out because they were injured,” he said.
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According to the WTA, the 685-foot-long truss arch bridge spans the South Fork of the Skokomish River in Mason County and is 365 feet above the river’s level.
