Firefighters rescue empty kayak from St. Joseph River

SOUTH BEND – Firefighters and police rushed to the St. Joseph River Thursday afternoon after receiving a report of a capsized kayaker in the river. Instead, just north of the Angela Street bridge, emergency workers who arrived along Riverside Drive found a slightly submerged green kayak stuck in the trees. Firefighters climbed down the embankment and rescued the personal watercraft, which apparently had washed down from upstream. People living nearby said the kayak had been seen along the bank for at least a week.