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Crews Remove 8 Vehicles From The South Platte River

DENVER (CBS4) - The South Platte River has dramatically dropped in the past two weeks, and that means the Denver Fire Department could finally get all the vehicles out of the water.

Copter4 flew over the river Thursday morning before the work started. Cars, SUVs and a van stuck on rocks in the river have prompted a lot of calls in recent weeks.

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Firefighters and the dive team were out on the river much of the day and retrieved eight vehicles. There were at least seven confirmed vehicles just in the area of the river near the Overland Golf Course. The fire department believes they've got all the vehicles.

Lt. Mike Pylar with the Denver Fire Department said some of the cars have been reported stolen, while others appear to have just been ditched after the driver lost control.

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Since there's been a break in heavy rain and the water has receded crews thought Thursday was a good today to pull the vehicles out. Pylar says it's still a dangerous job.

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"These divers are having to go shoreline to shoreline. They're having to pull ropes across, pull heavy cables across," Pylar said. "When they go across this river there are things underwater that they can't see. There are snags, there is undertow, there are rocks. So they might be in a situation where they might lose their footing and start heading down the stream."

It's has been a very busy season for the fire department. They have averaged 31 water rescue missions a year, but this year they've already had 79.

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