Firefighters Do Search, River Rescue as Boat Goes Over St. Charles Dam
(CREDIT: city of St. Charles)
The St. Charles Fire Department attempted a dramatic overnight river rescue early this morning (Tuesday, July 23, 2019) after a boat went over the Fox River dam and became trapped in the deadly boil — but no victim was found.
According to a St. Charles Fire Department news release, rescue crews were dispatched at around 1:59 a.m. to a report of a boat over the dam and a possible victim in the water.
(CREDIT: Google Maps)
Fire units were on the scene by 2 a.m. and found a boat over the dam, and trapped in the boil, but “there was no indication of a victim in the water,” St. Charles Fire Chief Joe Schelstreet said in the news release.
Firefighters used a Fire Department boat to access the boat in the dam and to search it for possible victims. None were found in the boat or in the water.
A rope was attached to the boat, and it was removed from the boil so that a further search could be completed. That search was again negative, Schelstreet said.
Using registration information on the boat, the St. Charles Police Department has been attempting to locate its owner. The boat was removed to the canoe launch at Mount St. Mary Park, where arrangements are being made to have it removed from the river.
As of 6 a.m., the incident is being treated as a boat that came loose from its moorings.
Further information will be available once the owner is located, Schelstreet said.
This is the third river rescue by the St. Charles Fire Department in the past month.
On June 24, 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.
On June 30, firefighters pulled three people from a disabled boat just north of the Fox River dam as strong winds from an approaching storm were blowing the boat toward the dam.
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.
SOURCE: St. Charles Fire Department news release
Read More
- St. Charles First Responders Perform River Rescue at Railroad Trestle
- Another River Rescue in St. Charles — This Time at The Dam
