Man survives tumble down 100-foot bluff

Published 3:11 pm Tuesday, May 10, 2016

An Oak Harbor man walked away from a 100-foot fall down a West Beach bluff Monday afternoon.

The man was cleaning up a patio around 1 p.m. and decided to dump some debris over the bluff near his home. The lip of the bluff gave way and he slipped and fell, said Mark Kirko, deputy chief for North Whidbey Fire and Rescue. Navy Region Northwest Fire and Emergency Services also responded.

“He slid — mostly,” Kirko said.

The man was able to stop himself part-way down the bluff, around 200 feet above the beach. Rescuers set up a rope system and lowered two firefighters down. They strapped the man in a harness and pulled him to safety. He suffered scrapes and complained of neck pain.

“He was very lucky,” Kirko said.

Getting close to the edge of a bluff isn’t a good idea, he added.

“They tend not to be as strong as you think they are.”