A man in his 20s was hurt Wednesday (July 28) when he jumped off bluffs into the Big River at Rockford Beach in House Springs and got caught in the fast current and went through rapids at the park, said Capt. John Barton of the High Ridge Fire Protection District.
Crews were dispatched at 2:55 p.m.,, and when firefighters arrived on the scene, the man already was on the shore with “non-life-threatening injuries.”
He said North Jefferson County Ambulance transported the man to Mercy Hospital South in south St. Louis County.
Barton said the incident was the sixth water emergency call the district responded to this summer, including a call on July 21 about a similar accident at Rockford Beach, where another man in his 20s jumped off the bluffs into the river and sustained non-life-threatening injuries.
Barton said the bluffs are located on private property.
“We definitely don't recommend (jumping off the bluffs) for a lot of the same reasons we don't recommend swimming in the river,” he said.
The currents and water conditions can quickly change in the area, making both swimming and jumping in the river dangerous, Barton said.
County parks officials have said the area is not meant for swimming or wading, and signs are posted at the park warning people about the dangers.