Bystanders help police, firefighter rescue man from submerged car

BREMERTON, Wash. — An 88-year-old Bremerton-area man is in the hospital after being pulled from his car after it plunged into Sinclair Inlet.

Bremerton police started receiving calls at 10:03 a.m. Thursday that a car had driven off the south end of Trenton Avenue at Bachmann Park in the Manette neighborhood .

A Bremerton police officer and a Bremerton firefighter were the first to arrive at the park’s shore and saw that the car was submerged in about 10 feet of water about 30 feet from the shore.

As they went into the water, two boats in Sinclair Inlet were being were tested by employees of SAFE Boats, a Bremerton-based marine manufacturer.  The employees saw the car plunge into the water and immediately went into the water to help.

The firefighter had carried an ax with him and used it to break the window on the car.  The SAFE Boats employees helped cut the driver’s seat belt, and the four rescuers removed the victim from the driver’s seat, pulled him to the shore, and along with a Bremerton detective, began CPR.

A Bremerton police lieutenant arrived and he and the firefighter swam back out to the car and checked to see if anyone else was in the car. No one was found.

The 88-year-old man was transported to Harrison Hospital, where he remains in the intensive care unit.

The firefighter received cuts during the rescue and was also treated at Harrison Hospital.

The car has since been pulled from the water.

Police said the accident appeared to be the result of a medical emergency.

KIRO