Vehicle floats down Winooski River

"If the person got dragged down this bank, it'd be awful," said salvage crew.

"If the person got dragged down this bank, it'd be awful," said salvage crew.

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"If the person got dragged down this bank, it'd be awful," said salvage crew.

Crews responded to a car floating down the Winooski River Wednesday morning in Burlington, near Chace Mill.

The Battalion 1 fire chief, Jamie Valyou, told NBC5 the vehicle rolled into the river after the driver forgot to put it in park.

No injuries were reported.

Around 9:30 a.m., officials say the vehicle had moved about 50 yards down the river and 20 feet from the shore.

It was partially submerged before crews began preparing to remove it, with the help of local assistance.

"This is a first, I've done other rivers in Vermont but not the Winooski, so yeah, this is a first," said Mike Wickenden, Red Cap Marina Salvage.

Burlington's police and fire departments were joined by Burlington Harbor Launch & Tow, Red Cap Recovery & Salvage, Ricks Towing, ADA Traffic Control, and Winooski police.

"I got here around 8:30 in the morning and I saw there were a lot of people, like people from the fire department and the police checking out what was going on," said Harrison Chan, an engineer working near the river.

First responders determined that the safest way to get the vehicle out was to tow the car up onto the Winooski Bridge.

"We got lucky with this one because the car hadn't settled into the muck too much, so Spike was able to get the tow straps around the wheels without too much difficulty," Wickenden said.

The fire department confirmed that the driver was already out of the car when it started sliding. Luckily, no one was hurt.

"The biggest thing that this person did right is that they didn't try to be a hero and jump in their car," Wickenden said. "There's lots of times when that doesn't work out. If the person got dragged down this bank, it'd be awful."

But getting the car out posed its own risks for the team.

"The car came to rest on a muddy bank and it was sitting on all four wheels but there's a slight current here and as you know, 6 inches of water, 3 inches of water can take you off your feet," said Mike "Spike" Hendrickson, a diver with Burlington Harbor Launch and Tow.

The owner of the car did not wish to speak with NBC5 on camera.

Burlington police told NBC5 that no charges will be filed against the driver as the incident was an accident.