Woman safe after Pier 39 water rescue

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- Firefighters rescued a woman late night from the San Francisco Bay after she fell off Pier 39 and into the water.

Rescue crews say they got the call that she had fallen into the water at 10:42 p.m. on Tuesday night. They got her out around 10:55 p.m. That's 13 long minutes in the cold water.

Witnesses tried to keep her calm while waiting for help.

"She was just screaming for help. And we were just guiding her," until the firefighters came, explained Kimly Chhong, who witnessed it all.

At one point, the woman was in the water, dangling by a rope, but barely hanging on. She was exhausted and freezing and it looked like she was about to give up, but that's when two firefighters jumped in the water and swam to her.

Firefighters took the victim to the hospital to get checked out, they say it looked like she was going to be fine, saying she was not seriously injured.

They say she had climbed up onto the seawall to take pictures, which can be dangerous, especially at night.

But some visitors point out that the scenery is so beautiful, there's no need to work hard for the shot.

Sean Henson from Wagner, Oklahoma was happy with the pictures he took while standing safely on the ground. "Pretty great and I didn't have to get on the wall," he said.

Jennie Williams agrees, but says she has seen people go to extremes for a picture, adding," A picture is not going to do so great if you fall over cliff trying to take it."

Firefighters have not released any information about the woman because of confidentiality laws.