Local fire departments were dispatched to the area of Outlet Road west of Maeystown shortly after 3:30 p.m. Tuesday for a report from the U.S. Coast Guard of a boat in distress and sinking on the Mississippi River.

The Columbia Fire Department was requested for use of its rescue boat, with the Maeystown and Valmeyer fire departments requested for assistance.

Emergency personnel in Jefferson County and other Missouri agencies also responded to the call from the other side of the river.

Jefferson County advised Monroe County agencies that it had a rescue boat on the water in Herculaneum, Mo.

The occupant of the boat was rescued a short time later by an emergency response boat near Herculaneum and the boat was secured on the Missouri side of the river.