Man trapped in St. Paul river bluff cave texts his way to a rescue

Firefighters rescued a 19-year-old man who became trapped in a Mississippi River bluff cave in St. Paul early Sunday.

The man sent a text message to a friend, who called for help. Tactical teams from St. Paul and Minneapolis fire departments spent four hours looking for the man, and found him around 5 a.m.

The teen fell about 20 feet down a shaft and was roughly 300 feet into the cave, St. Paul Fire Marshal Steve Zaccard said.

"He told his parents he was going to go to the caves. So it wasn't by accident that he fell in there," Zaccard said. If he hadn't been able to get the text message out, "he might still be down there."

Zaccard said the man made the mistake of starting a fire, which could've been deadly if he'd stayed there longer.

"Being in the caves in the first place is a foolish thing to do. The city has closed these caves all up, some of them several times. And still people dig their way in and explore them. That alone is dangerous and then to build a fire in one of these caves is deadly," Zaccard said. "We want to caution people, first of all, don't go in there and if you are in there, please don't be starting fires."

Five teens have died in St. Paul caves in the past 22 years. Zaccard says three died in 2004 and two in 1992, all overcome by carbon monoxide