Story posted Wednesday, June 3, 2009
Father, Son Rescued From River
Firefighters pull an 8-year-old boy from the Des Plaines River after he and his father's canoe tipped over Sunday evening.
A Des Plaines man and his eight-year-old son were rescued by Des Plaines firefighters Sunday night after their canoe tipped over near Miner Street and River Road.
Firefighters responded to the Miner Street bridge embankment at about 7:40 p.m. Sunday after a call was made about two people stranded.
According to Fire Chief Randy Jaeger, the father and son were paddling in a southerly direction with the current when their canoe tipped over. The level of the river was higher than normal, said Jaeger, in explaining why the 37-year-old father decided not to try to swim to shore. That was a good decision, he said, because one of the river's dams is located a short distance to the south. If they became tangled up in the dam, the situation could have become very dangerous.
Members of the Des Plaines Fire Department's Dive Team responded as well as firefighters from the North Maine Fire Protection Dist. The rescue took about 10 minuets to complete, said Jaeger. The father, he said, stopped into the River Road station on Monday to thank firefighters for their help.
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