Officials say an off-duty CAL Fire firefighter prevented a man from committing suicide Friday.
Firefighter Hector Barragan initially saw a pair of shoes and a jacket on the road before he saw the man sitting on top of the Orange Street Bridge with a rope tied around his neck.
Barragan called 9-1-1 and then went to talk with the man, according to a release from CAL Fire.
"He was able to calm the man by building trust that lead to the man abandoning his suicidal position."
The man removed the rope from his neck and moved toward Barragan.
Police took the man into custody for an evaluation.
"Firefighter Barragan is to be highly commended for his actions without direction of a supervisor, his successful conversational engagement building trust with the distraught man and the result of the man abandoning his attempt at suicide," CAL Fire and Riverside County Fire Chief John Hawkins said. "I am very proud of Firefighter Hector Barragan. He truly practiced servant leadership and saved a man's life."
