Fire Captain Frank O’Reagan says a rather bizarre incident just over a month ago involving a motorcyclist — who ended up badly injured on the banks of the Taunton River — was all the justification he needed that the recent acquisition of a new fire and rescue boat was worth the investment.
“We’ve already saved someone, so in my eyes it’s already paid for itself,” said O’Reagan, who has been training other firefighters how to operate and take full advantage of his department’s new high-speed rescue boat.
It was after 11 p.m. on Thursday, June 18, when the motorcyclist plummeted into the Taunton River.
After driving eastbound across Veterans Memorial Bridge from Somerset to Fall River, authorities say his motorcycle struck the guardrail where the bridge road veers right onto the southbound on-ramp for routes 138 and 79.
The unidentified operator managed to swim or drag himself to the rocky shore that slopes down from the street-level Route 79 South roadway, which runs beneath the 138 and 79 southbound onramp.