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Firefighters rescue four from pontoon trapped in Fox River in Algonquin

Firefighters rescued four occupants of a stalled pontoon drifting toward a low head dam near an Algonquin bridge Friday evening.

At 6:30 p.m. personnel from the Algonquin-Lake in the Hills Fire Protection District responded to a report of a boat in distress, nearing the dam on the Fox River at the Route 62/Algonquin Road Bridge.

A bystander notified the 911 dispatch center of a pontoon occupied with four people drifting toward the dam. First responding emergency personnel arrived on the scene within three minutes and at 6:33 p.m. found the boat under the bridge secured by a rope over the bridge support and another passenger holding onto a buoy.

"When we got there, he was holding onto the underside of the bridge with a rope and holding onto a buoy," said Battalion Chief John Greene of the Algonquin-Lake in the Hills Fire Protection District.

Firefighters said the boat was inoperable due to engine issues and was drifting under the bridge toward the dam because of high water levels and a swift current.

"He lost power to the boat and was drifting with the current. The river's high, and the current is going pretty fast with all the rain we have had. It was taking him toward the low head dam, which is pretty dangerous," Greene said,

Firefighters quickly dropped ropes to the boat and secured it in place until the fire district boat could rescue the occupants, towing them safely to a nearby pier.

"We kept them in the boat, made sure that they had life vests on and we just basically pulled the boat to shore," he said.

No civilian or fire district injuries were reported.

Assistance was received from Huntley, Carpentersville, Wonder Lake, Barrington and Crystal Lake fire departments.

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