Crews in Boyle Heights pulled off a tense rescue Saturday after an adult woman fell roughly 40 feet from a bridge near Washington Boulevard and the Los Angeles River. LAFD Air Operations lowered a paramedic rescuer to reach her, and firefighters used a hoisting procedure to lift the patient to safety before preparing her for transport to a nearby hospital for evaluation.
Rescue Operation And Response
The department logged the call as a “High Angle Rescue [Long Fall]” under incident number inc#0928. According to LAFD, Air Operations joined crews from Fire Station 17 and urban search-and-rescue units at the scene. Paramedics were lowered to the woman, and a hoisting operation was carried out with plans to transport her to a local hospital.
Why This Stretch Is Tricky
Under-bridge access along the LA River near Washington Boulevard is notoriously limited, which cuts down ground rescue options and often forces firefighters to rely on aerial and rope techniques to retrieve patients. As reported by CBS Los Angeles, crews used the same hoist method at the 2700 block of E. Washington in March 2025 when they found a woman in shallow water and transported her to a hospital in serious condition.
What Officials Say And What Is Next
LAFD said the Department of Transportation and LAPD were requested to handle traffic control and that no firefighters were reported injured while working the scene. The department added that the patient was being medically evaluated and that further details about how the fall occurred were not immediately available, according to LAFD.
