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   An off-duty St. Louis firefighter is being called a hero after rescuing a man who had driven his truck into the River Des Peres Sunday.  

   Firefighter Chris Dimza was driving in the area just west of I-55 when he saw a crowd of people was pointing toward the river.  He stopped to see why.

   Upon learning that a truck had gone into the rain-swollen river, Dimza, who's part of a water rescue unit stationed in north St. Louis, dove into the water and swam toward bubbles.  A man surfaced briefly and the firefighter was able to bring him safely to shore.  

   Fire Department divers later pulled the man's truck from the water.  

   The driver was taken to a hospital.   He has not been identified and his condition is unknown.  No one else was injured in the incident.

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Two crew members from a tow boat, including one who died, have been honored for their efforts to save a family of five after the family's boat became disabled on the Mississippi River at St. Louis.

The U.S. Coast Guard hosted a ceremony Friday to honor Jarvise Shelton and Kyle Hardman. Coast Guard officials say the pleasure craft was in "imminent peril" last year when Shelton and Hardman launched a small boat to save the family.

The rescue boat capsized, killing Hardman. Shelton and crew members from three other tows were able to save the family.

Shelton was presented the Coast Guard's Gold Lifesaving Medal during a ceremony in Alton, Illinois. Hardman's survivors will receive his medal at a later date.

   New warnings are being issued to stay away from rain-swollen rivers and streams.  That after three men who'd gone fishing in the Meramec River had to be rescued Sunday morning.  

   The Saline Valley Fire Protection District received a call around 9:30 a.m. from someone who saw the men's thrown into the water when their canoe flipped.  

   Saline Valley Fire Chief Bob Dunn says while crews were en route to the scene, they got a second call.  This one was from one of the men in the water who told them they were approaching the Highway 21 bridge.  

   Chief Dunn says rescue crews dropped a line from the bridge in an effort to fish them out of the swift-moving water.  "We were here with a rope and we watched them go underneath the bridge," Dunn said.  "One of them was able to grab hold of the rope that we had thrown to them.  The other two couldn't."

   The other two men managed to grab onto some low-hanging trees.  They were rescued by boat.

   A man and his teenage son are safe after being rescued from the Mississippi River Tuesday evening.  

   About 6 p.m. the two had become stranded when their johnboat snagged on debris near the Ameren Rush Island power plant about 12 miles south of Crystal City.  

   The Coast Guard was unable to launch an immediate rescue operation because their nearby boat launches were all underwater.  

   Crews from the Jefferson County R-7 Fire Department did get a boat in the water and rescued the pair just before 8 p.m.  

   Both the father and his 15 year old son were treated for exposure, but are expected to recover.

   What began as a river rescue is now a recovery operation.  

   A small fishing boat capsized on the Mississippi River Saturday afternoon, dumping two men and a 10 year old boy into the wind torn water.  

   A towboat crew found the boy and pulled him to safety.

   More than two dozen fire and rescue crews spent the day Sunday searching for the boy's step-father and another man, but both are still missing.  Hartford Fire Assistant Chief Bill Owens says they searched in the water and along the banks from Hartford, Illinois south to the Chain of Rocks Bridge.

   By Sunday afternoon Owens expressed little hope that the men would be found alive.  

   Owens says the boy was wearing a life jacket when he was pulled from the water.  It's not known if the men were wearing theirs, since two life jackets have been found in the area.

   Crews will resume searching Monday morning using sonar provided by the Illinois Conservation Department.