DOUGLAS, Mich. — The driver of a pickup truck that drove into the Kalamazoo River near the Blue Star Highway is OK thanks to the quick actions of some Good Samaritans.
The incident happened around 12:40 p.m. Thursday afternoon when the driver of the truck hit a power pole, went off the road and onto Washington Street and then into the Kalamazoo River near the Blue Star Highway bridge, Deputy Fire Chief of the Saugatuck Township Fire Department Chris Mantels said.
Mantels says the driver of the truck was rescued by boaters nearby and then was treated by first responders and is said to be doing OK. The boaters used a fire extinguisher to smash out the back window of the truck to rescue the driver, authorities said.
Austin Waalkes and Maxwell Klemm were two of those boaters and perfect strangers who jumped in to help get the man out of the truck. They hopped on a boat at a nearby business and rode to where the truck was sinking. Klemm was the one who threw the fire extinguisher to break the back window.
When asked if the situation could have ended differently had it not been for the civilians who jumped in to help, Douglas Police Chief Steve Kent said, "absolutely, would have ended tragically."
He added, "just amazing that it happened the way that it did."
While the driver of the truck was just shaken up and had no injuries, minor injuries were sustained by the boaters during the rescue, but they are doing fine now.
Waalkes added, "if I was in the same scenario, I wish someone would do the same thing for me."
Jerry Donovan witnessed the scene shortly after the crash and said, "just the response time of emergency services was astounding, and then the you know, the private citizens who just jumped in and did what they had to do, and it's a brighter day in Douglas than it could have been."
Chief Kent said, "it restores your faith in people."
13 ON YOUR SIDE obtained video of the driver being rescued from Ethan Barde that you can view here:
The first responders used large inflatables to float the vehicle near shore where it was extracted from the river around 5:15 p.m.
Another video of the scene can be seen here, taken by Nichole Sanderson:
The downed power pole knocked out power to some of the local residents.
Police said alcohol was not a factor in the crash and the incident is under investigation.
A couple dozen personnel from the Muskegon Sheriff's Department and the Saugatuck Township Fire Department responded to the call.