CLEVELAND — As with every holiday weekend, it's busy, and officials are already feeling the heat.
Cleveland Division of Fire Assistant Public Information Officer John Kearns said the department responded to the Cuyahoga River shortly after 11 a.m. at the request of the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) to assist with a body recovery.
Marine 21 and Rescue Squad 1, supported by additional Cleveland Division of Fire companies, conducted the recovery operation, per Kearns.
Kearns was unable to say whether the person pulled from the water is male or female.
The Medical Examiner was on scene and will make that identification.
After the recovery, law enforcement took over the scene.
Just before noon on Friday, a boat also caught fire at the Northeast Yacht Club on Lakeshore Boulevard.
Firefighters arrived to find a 32-foot boat fully involved in fire following fueling operations. The vessel reportedly had approximately 200 gallons of fuel onboard, according to Kearns.
I stopped by the marina Friday afternoon to check it out.
By the time I arrived, firefighters had extinguished the fire with foam, and only a faint plume of smoke was visible.
The fire caused the boat to partially sink next to a dock, and the back half of it was heavily charred.
I briefly spoke with another boat owner who docks in that marina. They didn't want to go on camera, but said two men were on the boat when the fire ignited.
The fire was determined to be unintentional.
Damage is estimated at approximately $40,000.
There were no reported injuries, Kearns said.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) responded and took over the scene following fire suppression operations.
The boat fire and the body recovery appear to be separate incidents.
With this weekend not only being Labor Day Weekend, but the Cleveland National Air Show also taking place, Cleveland Fire said it has increased patrol, especially on the water.
"Currently Marine 21, they're on the air show detail. There's a lot of boat traffic for that, a lot of incidents on the water, so they're stationed out there. They're patrolling, helping with security zones. They're responding to calls directly from there. We have teams both on the east and west side that assist with water rescue, as well as our Technical Rescue 1, which includes our dive team," Kearns told me on Friday.
