A man believed to be in his 30s was pulled from the Milwaukee River near the Riverwalk and Wells Street Sunday night after first responders got word that someone had gone into the water, and fire crews immediately began CPR on the riverbank. The man was rushed to Ascension Columbia St. Mary's Hospital, though his condition remained unclear as of 9:30 p.m. that night.
First responders were called to the area of Plankinton and Wells in downtown Milwaukee shortly before 8 p.m. Sunday after reports came in that a person was in the water, according to TMJ4 News. The Milwaukee Fire Department's dive team conducted an underwater search and located the person in the river, then transported him to the hospital. Separate dispatch records reviewed by USFiR indicate the 911 calls describing a person in the river came in around 8 p.m., and that the man was estimated to be in his 30s.
Ascension Columbia St. Mary's Hospital Milwaukee Campus, where the man was taken, is designated by the Wisconsin Department of Health Services as a Level IV Trauma Center and Comprehensive Stroke Center, a status that reflects why downtown emergency crews route serious water-trauma cases there. As of Sunday night, TMJ4's reporting noted, it was still unclear how the man was doing.
A Riverfront Built for Rescue, But Not Always Escape
The stretch of RiverWalk near Plankinton Avenue and Wells Street is lined with vertical concrete dockwalls, and the corridor is equipped with public life-ring stations and emergency ladders meant to help stranded people before dive teams can arrive, according to WaterSAFE MKE. Those steep walls can make it difficult or impossible for someone to climb out of the water unassisted, which is part of why the safety equipment was installed along the urban river corridor in the first place.
The Milwaukee Fire Department's Dive Rescue Team, which handled Sunday's search, is the department's oldest specialized unit. It was formed in 1961 after firefighters completed U.S. Navy diving instruction, and it's stationed at Station 2 with roughly 50 certified members who train monthly in swift water, night diving, deep water, and ice rescues, per the City of Milwaukee. The Milwaukee Police Department also maintains its own Underwater Investigation Unit, founded in 1957 as the first law enforcement scuba team in Wisconsin, which handles criminal investigations, evidence retrieval, and joint search operations alongside MFD's divers.
A Corridor With a History of Water Calls
Sunday's rescue happened just one block from where MFD dive crews recovered a deceased man in his late 20s or 30s from the river at North Plankinton Avenue and West Wisconsin Avenue in May 2022, according to Patch. Police at the time said that recovery showed no initial signs of foul play. Between 2020 and 2023, Milwaukee public safety agencies fielded more than 140 drowning calls across city waterways, while MFD's dive and boat teams deployed to over 250 total water emergencies, the same outlet's reporting on WaterSAFE MKE shows.
That volume of calls is part of what led Milwaukee Fire Chief Aaron Lipski and Fire and Police Commission Chair LaNelle Ramey to establish the WaterSAFE MKE initiative in December 2023, aiming to install strategically mapped life-ring stations along urban riverbanks after several high-profile drowning deaths. The effort was reportedly inspired in part by the 2020 drowning of Ramey's stepson in the Milwaukee River. MFD's Special Operations Division, which includes the Dive Rescue Team alongside six other technical units like Heavy Urban Rescue and Hazardous Materials, comprises more than 350 sworn personnel citywide.
Statewide, Wisconsin's age-adjusted unintentional drowning death rate averaged 1.12 deaths per 100,000 residents from 2018 to 2021, slightly below the national average of 1.31 per 100,000, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data cited by Patch. Health authorities note that natural bodies of water account for most adult drowning fatalities. It's the second time this year Hoodline has reported a body pulled from the Milwaukee River, following a recovery near Wright Street in Riverwest in May.
The man's official identification, his updated medical condition, and how he ended up in the water remain open questions as of Sunday night. Whether the life rings or emergency ladders installed along that stretch of the RiverWalk played any role in the initial response has not been detailed by authorities.
