Teen rescued after Jet Ski stalls near Fox River dam in Elgin

A teenager who was clinging to a warning buoy in the Fox River just north of a dam in Elgin is safe after firefighters rescued him, authorities said Tuesday.

The 16-year-old was riding a Jet Ski in the river Monday evening when its engine stalled north of the Kimball Street bridge, the Elgin Fire Department said in a news release.

When the watercraft lost power, the boy floated down river and grabbed a warning marker buoy that indicates the dam is ahead.

That's where firefighters found him when a dozen of them responded to the scene about 6:40 p.m. near the Gail Borden Public Library, Battalion Chief Rich Carter said Tuesday.

Two divers jumped into a rescue boat they launched north of the dam from a ramp at the library and prepared to help the boy out of the water. While they were heading out, Carter said three more divers deployed a rescue raft below the dam in case the boy went over.

Twenty minutes after a call came in reporting the boater's distress, the dive team on the north side of the dam rescued him, grabbed his Jet Ski and brought both safely to shore. Paramedics evaluated the boy's medical condition at the scene and released him to his father.

Crews also helped the boy's father remove the Jet Ski from the river and load it onto its trailer. What caused the mechanical failure that led the Jet Ski to stop working has not been determined.

The rescue took place near one of 10 dams along 115 miles of the Fox River in Illinois.

Many ecological experts are pushing for removal of dams along the Fox and other Illinois waterways because they create an overabundance of algae and pose safety threats to recreational river users.

Two dams along the Fox - in Aurora and Batavia - were removed more than a decade ago, but no removal projects have begun since.