Off-Duty Firefighter Rescues 2 After Truck Plunges into River

An off-duty firefighter pulled two people from a pickup truck that skidded into a river in Yonkers during Sunday's rain storm, officials said.

Captain Robert Smith of the Yonkers Fire Department saw the small truck hydroplane, strike a guardrail on the Saw Mill River Parkway and plunge into the Saw Mill River, officials said. The truck rested on its side, nearly submerged in the water.

Smith, who was heading home after his shift, pulled to the side, waded into the river and used a rock to remove the truck's windshield. He assisted a middle-age man out of the truck and carried the woman to the riverbank, officials said.

Other motorists stopped and helped rescue the couple, who were examined by emergency medical technicians, but not taken to a hospital.

The accident occurred near the Odell Avenue overpass. 

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