(CREDIT: Google Maps)

St. Charles Fire Department personnel rescued an adult and two children whose Pottawatomie Park paddle boat was caught in a storm and trapped under a train trestle bridge Monday afternoon.

(CREDIT: Google Maps)

According to a St. Charles Fire Department news release, emergency personnel were dispatched at around 4:41 p.m. Monday (June 24, 2019) to a reported river rescue attempt in which people were trapped on a pylon beneath the railroad trestle bridge close to Salerno’s Restaurant, 320 N. Second St.

Multiple 911 calls were received by TriCom dispatch, and an exact location was given for the victims, St. Charles Fire Chief Joe Schelstreet said in the news release.

Fire units were on the scene within one minute and found one adult and two children standing on a pier underneath the bridge next to a paddle boat. All three had personal floatation devices.

Firefighters made verbal contact and found that the three were not in imminent distress.

A Fire Department boat was launched from Boy Scout Island and rescued them from their position.

All three were taken to ambulances waiting on the shore at Pottawatomie Park where they were examined by paramedics. No transports were made as there were no complaints of injuries.

The party had been out on the river when a storm impacted the area and they sought shelter under the bridge. The paddle boat was towed back to the rental location at Pottawatomie Park.

About The St. Charles Fire Department

The St. Charles Fire Department provides fire suppression, rescue, emergency medical, emergency management, fire inspection and public education services to the St. Charles, IL, community.

The department earned a Class 1 PPC ISO rating and is fully accredited by the Commission on Fire Accreditation International and the Center for Public Safety Excellence, Inc. A full-time department of the city of St. Charles, the St. Charles Fire Department serves the 33,000 residents and 2,100 businesses from three stations within the city.

More at www.stcharlesil.gov, and follow on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Vimeo and LinkedIn.